Brooklyn startup Vycarb has raised an additional $5 million to fast-track its innovative water-based carbon removal system, with pilot projects including a notable installation at Brooklyn Navy Yard demonstrating its potential for permanent, low-cost industrial decarbonisation.
,Brooklyn-based climate tech startup Vycarb has secured $5 million in seed funding to advance the commercial deployment of its pioneering water-based CO2 removal and storage technology. The funding round was led by Twynam and included participation from MOL Switch, Hatch Blue, Clocktower Ventures, Idemitsu, and Singapore government-backed deep tech investor SGInnovate. This investment will support Vycarb’s mission to provide scalable, permanent, and fully measurable carbon capture solutions that can be deployed directly at emission sites, offering a low-cost alternative to traditional carbon storage methods that often require expensive purification, compression, or long-distance transport infrastructure.
Vycarb’s innovative system converts CO2 from diverse industrial sources, such as bioenergy facilities, cement and steel plants, power stations, and coastal ports, into dissolved bicarbonate using readily available minerals in natural waters. This bicarbonate remains stably stored for between 10,000 and 100,000 years, simultaneously addressing atmospheric carbon pollution and mitigating water acidification caused by elevated CO2 levels. The technology’s core differentiation lies in its sensor-powered platform, which enables real-time, in situ measurement of carbon capture and storage, guaranteeing alignment with the highest market standards for integrity and verifiability.
The company has already conducted several successful pilot projects, notably an installation at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York City, where its system captures and permanently stores CO2 in the East River. This pilot, running under the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation’s Yard Labs program, aims to demonstrate Vycarb’s capacity to remove around 100 tonnes of CO2 annually when fully operational. It also serves as a platform for independent assessment of environmental impacts to verify the benefits of scaling the solution. Vycarb previously showcased its autonomous real-time measurement capabilities on Governors Island, adding to its evidence base for reliable and measurable carbon removal.
Vycarb’s traction in the market is reflected in its commercial agreements for high-integrity carbon credits with major players such as Stripe and Milkywire. The technology’s commercial promise has attracted significant strategic interest, including a partnership with marine monitoring firm AtDepthMRV and CO2 management specialist TOMCO, further strengthening its ability to deploy low-concentration CO2 storage solutions in coastal and industrial waters. Additionally, Vycarb is a semi-finalist in the U.S. Department of Energy’s carbon dioxide removal purchase programme and has secured partnerships with industrial giants like Rio Tinto to deploy its system at heavy emitting facilities. These agreements showcase Vycarb’s unique advantage of distributed deployment, which can overcome the infrastructure limitations faced by incumbent carbon capture technologies.
SGInnovate’s involvement highlights the global recognition of Vycarb’s technology, which aligns well with Singapore’s net-zero goals by offering scalable and cost-effective industrial decarbonization solutions. The concurrent industry trend is notable; in 2024, voluntary carbon market firms have raised over $1.3 billion, demonstrating robust investor confidence in innovative carbon capture and storage technologies like Vycarb’s. This growing financial support is critical for accelerating the deployment of solutions that can meet the urgency of climate commitments worldwide.
Vycarb’s approach is grounded in combining natural chemistry with advanced sensing and engineering. Its system leverages passive natural water flow and pH-mediated dissolution to accelerate the Earth’s inherent carbon storage process safely and measurably. By transforming existing water infrastructure into a platform for carbon capture and storage, Vycarb offers a practical pathway to decarbonize industries that are hard to abate with traditional methods.
While Vycarb claims its technology can permanently store carbon for tens of thousands of years, ongoing pilot projects and independent verifications will be crucial to validate these long-term environmental benefits fully. The company’s heavily sensor-driven approach to monitoring could set new standards for transparency and accountability in carbon markets, supporting the credibility and scalability of ocean-based and water-based carbon removal technologies.
