Estonian carbon nanomaterials producer UP Catalyst raises €2.36M

Estonian carbon nanomaterials producer UP Catalyst has closed a €2.36M seed round of funding from Estonian SmartCap Green Fund and Warsaw Equity Group.

Founded in Tallinn in 2019 by Gary Urb and Katlin Kaare, UP Catalyst converts CO2 into carbon nanomaterials and graphite. These materials can be used for EV batteries, concrete, paints and coatings, and electronics production. The company's technology is built on molten salt electrolysis. UP Catalyst uses CO2-rich flue gases from heavy industrial emitters as its feedstock. The process is powered by wind, solar, or hydroelectric energy.

According to the company, its production process leaves a carbon footprint of 0.07 tons CO2eq per ton of graphite. Traditional graphite production requires 0.7 tons of CO2eq per ton of carbon nanotubes. By 2030, the company plans to use at least 200K tons of CO2 annually.

The company will use the investment to accelerate the previously planned construction of the new plant and the development of an industrial pilot reactor. UP Catalyst has already begun moving into a new building, which will be able to deploy a production capacity ten times larger than the current plant. The industrial production unit is located next to the waste incineration plant in Tallinn, which will provide direct access to hard-to-reduce CO2 emissions in the future. 

Established in Tallinn in 2021 as a subsidiary of the Estonian Business and Innovation Agency, SmartCap manages two investment funds: SmartCap Venture Capital Fund and SmartCap Green Fund. A €100M SmartCap Green Fund supports innovative early-stage Estonian green technology companies – through dedicated venture capital funds and direct investments to companies until 2026. SmartCap Green Fund gets financing from the European Union Next Generation EU Recovery and Resilience Facility funds.