Carbon13 invests in six deep tech startups

COOloop are commercialising CO2 utilisation for green chemicals. Their derived catalyst platform uses captured CO2 and green H2 for the sustainable production of chemicals and fuels, starting with ethanol.

Why we invested: Their process enables them to break a crucial deadlock in aligning cost and impact for this building block chemical. An extremely high founder-opportunity fit with breakthrough use of novel metal-organic frameworks to create green acetic acid.

Nendo is building a clay-based subsurface irrigation system delivers water directly to plant roots, eliminating evaporation and dramatically improving soil health – while lasting 5x longer that current systems.

Investment driven by the deceptively simple solution which is both affordable and transformative for farmers. Drip irrigation has failed as a silver bullet, Nendo’s system actually enhances soil health, CO2 sequestration, and water retention. The market is enormous.

Meet CEO Hannah Mellor a landscape architect and material-focused founder obsessed with rethinking how we use water. Michelle Pereira COO brings strong experience in building and managing complex projects across sectors.

Pure Capture Innovations’ biochar -molecular filter composites are a drop -in replacement for coal-based granular activated carbon to effectively capture and remove short-chain PFAS and other micropollutants.

We invested because this is a team that knows how to deploy and scale innovation and they’ve identified a plug and play solution in the water industry that could help with a pressing pain point where GACs can’t address PFAs.

Mark Wild CEO brings over 25 years of commercial and operational leadership in advanced materials across pharmaceuticals and batteries. He holds a PhD in Chemistry and an MBA. Dr. Usman Shoukat CTO holds 15 years of expertise in materials development and solution design, particularly biochar based materials.

TeraSort is leveraging major cost reductions in robotics and advances in AI to build drop-in, fully robotic, modular recycling units that replace traditional recycling capacity, cutting capex by up to 10X and opex by up to 5X.

Why we invested: TeraSort have ripped up the rule book and are grounded in what actually works. They’ve developed a low capex deployment model taking into account current facilities, who have to recycle 100% of their waste by 2027 under new legislation. TeraSort can enable this transition without the cost burden.

Founders CEO Johnny Longden brings startup acumen and recycling expertise, and CTO Dr Phil Worthington brings 3x founder experience and 20 years of computer vision and AI experience, including specifically related to recycling.

White Lotus Energies’ photosynthesis-inspired platform turns CO2 into clean fuels and chemicals. Their first product is green methanol for aviation, shipping, and industry.

Why we invested: The exceptional research of Dr Isuru Muthukudaarachchi combined with two team members with hyper relevant experience gives this team an exciting shot at a genuine holy grail: essential chemical reactions without high heat or pressure.

Dr Isuru Muthukudaarachchi has 20 years of research into light activated techniques. He is joined by Chantelle Arneaud who has 20 years experience in high growth strategies, including the exit of a tech startup, and by Harsh Bhuta who has 10 years’ experience as a chemical engineer in hydrogen and biotech.