Innovator Carbyon keeps focus and engages experienced partners like us for the rest
A revolutionary technology that can remove CO₂ from the atmosphere 200 times faster?
Scale-up Carbyon is well on its way to making it happen on a large scale
The reason
Carbyon, founded in 2019 as a spin-off of TNO, won a special award in 2022: Most Disruptive Innovator in Deloitte's Technology Fast 50 programme. This award specifically recognises a deep-tech company that enables breakthrough innovation through deep research and major investments — scaling up can easily take eight to twelve years. Deloitte wants to stimulate a special growth path with this. Carbyon's unique strength: it can remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere much faster than other companies. And that is necessary: to maintain the quality of life on earth, billions of tons of CO2 must be captured. The company's mission is to make this feasible and affordable worldwide.
Hans De Neve, founder and CEO of Carbyon: "We are convinced that climate change can be stopped. Worldwide, there are almost 150 companies working on this matter, but we distinguish ourselves because we work with a material that we have developed ourselves that captures CO2, the sorbent. As a result, we can remove CO2 from the air 200 times faster than existing solutions." This sorbent is processed in a so-called direct air capture device — think of a vacuum cleaner in XXL version. "Solar panels were initially dismissed as an unrealistic option. We believe that our technology will be just as successful."
Bart de Vries, partner at Deloitte: "We guide start-ups and scale-ups and their CFOs with a wide range of support services. To give an example: we unburden them in the field of compliance and as soon as there is a need to scale up and attract European funding, we can also help with that. We also provide support in the areas of administration, taxation and tax returns. We had been following Carbyon for a while: sustainability is an important part of our purpose and strategy, so their sustainability goal appealed to us strongly. And it's a double-edged sword: on the one hand, we support an initiative that is good for society and, on the other hand, we develop a customer with growth potential."
Deloitte & Carbyon: Together towards revolutionizing carbon capture technology
The challenge
Reinier Zoomers, CFO of Carbyon: "To achieve our mission, hundreds of thousands of these devices will have to be produced every year. This requires partners who have experience with mass production. For us, the trick is to keep focus on what we are good at, and to attract partners who can help us with various support services. For example, for our financing needs." Lars Mulder, Senior Manager Global Investments and Innovation Incentives (Gi3) at Deloitte: "Together with my team, I started looking for opportunities for financial support from the European Commission. This has resulted in an application for the EIC Accelerator grant. In addition, we identified possible cooperation partners for Carbyon."
Zoomers: "We are entering the next phase, from lab to production hall, to build the first machines. As mentioned, we want to keep our focus sharp. That is why we transferred the entire administration to Deloitte. This gives us a deepening, also in terms of reporting, so that we can better manage financial progress. And the entire control framework is now set up on the basis of a four-eyes principle on all invoices."
"The trick is to keep focus on what we're good at — and find partners who can help with the rest."
faster than traditional DAC technologies
Saturated in 100 seconds
Passionate people
Year of establishment
The solution
The collaboration with Deloitte has yielded several results. There is more financial and strategic focus, so that Carbyon can make informed decisions during the scale. Operational frameworks have been strengthened to support sustainable growth and further innovation. Compliance has improved, which means fewer risks. And there is now more insight into potential financing options and subsidies. De Vries: "Start-ups and scale-ups are relatively small, agile organisations. We adapt our way of working accordingly: we work with even shorter lines, respond quickly and come up with concrete solutions. The trick is to bring the right colleagues to the table from our side, who have sufficient entrepreneurial spirit."
Asked for tips for start-ups, De Neve says: "Put down on paper in advance what you need help with. The sharper you answer that question, the easier it is for a partner to get the right people to join in." And Zoomers adds: "Make sure you connect well with the expertise of your potential partner. Make sure you have one point of contact, someone who is involved in everything and who keeps an overview. And that they really understand what you do and think about it themselves: what type of company is this, what phase are they in, where should the focus be? Someone who doesn't come up with a thick English-language report, but knows how to identify the three most important issues in a very concrete way — something that Deloitte did well."
The impact
Recently, Carbyon joined forces with VDL Industrial Modules. Together we are working towards a large-scale demonstration. De Neve: "It will be an important milestone in our existence, because... seeing is believing. For the first time, we are leaving the lab, with a working machine and a large-scale event at the High Tech Campus of Brainport. We want to enter into discussions with international parties, with governments and companies in the oil and gas industry, as well as with institutional investors and venture capitalists."
Carbyon's solution has considerable potential for exports and can help companies reduce their emissions on a large scale. In this way, with the support of Deloitte, the broader movement towards sustainable energy solutions and CO₂ reduction is being contributed. It proves that innovative high-tech companies can successfully navigate challenging growth trajectories together with experienced partners.
The people
Bart de Vries
Lars Mulder
Hans De Neve
Reinier Zoomers
Beatrix Bos
All images were taken by Bart van Overbeeke | Carbyon
