Astracite just closed an oversubscribed pre-seed round of 750K plus 380K in loans from the Flemish Innovation Agency, and founder Christian Fink sat down with Carbon13’s Simon Dierks to tell the story behind it. Christian explains how he met his co-founders Sander and Joel inside Carbon13’s Venture Builder programme and how the idea evolved from a rough concept about CO2 utilisation into a differentiated battery material tackling both the energy density challenge and Europe’s 93% dependency on Chinese graphite. He talks candidly about the challenge of selling a deep tech vision to investors before a prototype exists, and why a makeshift lab proof-of-concept and a clear-eyed view of your own limitations can be more convincing than a polished deck. The conversation also covers how Carbon13’s network, from EIR support to investor introductions, directly shaped both the product direction and the cap table.
Closing the round
Simon: Hi Christian, thank you very much for your time. And first of all, congrats. You’ve just closed the round.
Christian: Thanks for having me. We’re super excited. It’s been a lot of work and now things have paid off. We’re really thankful for the support from all of our investors and everyone else who’s backing us.
Simon: Please give us a bit more flesh to the bone. How big is the round and what are you using the money for?
Christian: We closed the round oversubscribed at 750K. On top of that, we secured a loan of 380K from Vlaio, the Flemish Innovation Agency. We’re going to use this money for the development of our process, for the optimisation of our material, for conceptualising and designing the pilot that we’re going to build next year, and for securing our IP, which is underway right now.
What Astracite is building
Simon: Before we jump back to the beginning of your journey, I think everyone watching would love to know what you’re actually building. Can you briefly describe what Astracite is doing?
Christian: Absolutely. We develop high-performing anode material for batteries such as lithium-ion batteries for EVs from CO2 and silicon. We’re storing CO2, which would otherwise become an emission, in a long-term stable form of carbon, in this case graphite. And we’re embedding silicon into that material during the transformation process, which boosts the capacity when used as an anode in batteries.
That solves a number of problems. It’s attractive for battery manufacturers because they’re always under pressure to improve energy density. There’s also significant cost pressure, and we believe we can produce this material more cheaply than the standard process while being carbon neutral or even carbon negative by storing more CO2 than is emitted in production.
But there’s another angle entirely. Right now, 93% of the world’s battery graphite comes from China. As of last autumn, China imposed export controls on all things battery, including anode material like battery graphite, but also equipment as basic as the furnaces used to make it. We think we’re addressing a critical supply chain risk for Europe, and potentially for any ex-China geography, because our material can be produced anywhere with a stable supply of CO2 and affordable green energy.
How the idea developed
Simon: How did the idea for Astracite develop over time? You didn’t arrive at the programme with this concept already formed.
Christian: Not at all. None of us came to the programme with this idea. One of my starting points was thinking about the big holes left in landscapes from coal mining, and whether we couldn’t take CO2 out of the atmosphere, turn it back into coal, and fill those holes again. Financially, not a great proposition. But looking into carbon utilisation early on, I realised that it’s usually just a cost centre. What we really need to make it work at scale is to produce something with genuine market value, something people want to buy, so we can create an economic engine that fuels itself.
When Sander presented his idea of making carbon black from CO2 early in the programme, I was thrilled. We looked at carbon black, then at various other materials we could make from CO2, and we landed on graphite for batteries. Sander then brought in Joel, who has a background in battery materials. He did the basis of our techno-economic analysis over a weekend in a spreadsheet. That was impressive enough that we’ve been working together ever since.
Proving it to investors
Simon: A lot of early-stage deep tech founders struggle with what to show investors when you’re still pre-prototype. What proof points were you able to gather, and how did you approach that challenge?
Christian: We realised early on that there’s enormous cost pressure on standard graphite. Chinese producers have been building overcapacity and selling below production cost. To avoid that race to the bottom, we pulled forward something that was originally a later step on our roadmap: silicon-carbon composite material, which has higher capacity than standard graphite and commands a very different price point. For a European startup in a field with large incumbents and aggressive pricing, it made much more sense to go for a differentiated product from the start, even if it was harder.
That’s also very relevant for investor conversations. We got a lot of questions about competition from China, and the only credible answer is a clear technological edge. It’s simply not believable that a small European startup can compete with Chinese overcapacity and subsidies on a commodity product.
When we were finally able to find prices for silicon-graphite material, we were really thrilled. It’s much more expensive in proportion to the higher capacity, and that really helps to make our case. In terms of proof points: as early as possible, even before our first pitch at Carbon13, we went into the lab with a very makeshift reactor and produced material. Not material that would have performed well in a battery, but enough to show that the process works on a basic level. And I think being transparent about the flaws and the gaps, knowing what you can’t do yet and what you still need to solve, is itself convincing to investors.
Joining Carbon13
Simon: You now seem to have a strong market understanding and a clear grasp of the pain points in the battery supply chain. Let’s jump back about a year to Spring 2025, when you took part in Carbon13’s Venture Builder programme. What made you apply?
Christian: The three of us met in the programme. We all joined with the intention to start a climate tech company, to find co-founders and together develop something with a relevant impact on the climate crisis. For me personally, it could have taken many shapes or forms. I had a number of ideas, but I knew I needed technical co-founders. I come from the commercial side, and I would not have been able to implement any of those ideas on my own.
Simon: You have a strong commercial background. Why take the deep tech route? There’s a lot to learn, and the technological risks are significant. Why not build something easier to explain?
Christian: A problem like climate change is, at its heart, a physical problem in the real world. To solve it, we actually have to move molecules and materials. As useful as software and AI can be, at the end of the day we need hardware and materials to actually stop and eventually reverse this development. So most of my ideas always had some element of hardware or materials to them. I never really thought about how to make the venture easy. I thought about what was necessary to have a big impact.
How Carbon13 helped
Simon: How has the Carbon13 team and network helped, in terms of market understanding, shaping the solution, and investor relationships?
Christian: We had a fantastic EIR, Amrit, who supported us. It was really through his input that we made the decision to focus on silicon-graphite from the outset. Initially we thought it was too difficult and put it further down the roadmap, but he pushed us to be more ambitious. That’s probably the single most important piece of support we received, though the whole programme and team were genuinely excellent.
On the investor side: four of our investors came through Carbon13. At both showcase days we made contacts who later invested, one quite quickly, another over time. And Michael Langguth introduced us to another climate tech investor who ended up putting in the largest ticket and closing the round. We’re really very happy about that.
Simon: I hope we can be helpful even in your next stage. We have a focus on early stage, probably pre-seed to A, and maybe widening that in the future. We’d love to help you on your way. And someday maybe we can’t be of help anymore because you’re dealing with challenges that are too big for our world. That would be wonderful.
What’s next
Simon: What’s next for Astracite? And have you had the chance to raise a glass with your co-founders and celebrate the closing of the round?
Christian: We celebrated by hiring somebody. That was really the first thing we did. We have celebrated, but really we got down to work. We’re moving into a bigger office and lab space. With our new hire, a process development engineer, we’re conceptualising and designing the pilot that we’re hoping to build early next year. And we’re currently working on the filing of our first patent. So a lot of work ahead.
Simon: Exciting times. Fingers crossed. We’re cheering for you and all the best. Keep up the great work. Thank you very much, Christian, for your time.
Christian: Thanks for having me. It was great talking to you.