Amsterdam-based ClimateTech startup Brineworks has secured €6.8 million in new funding to accelerate commercialisation of its ultra-low-cost Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology.
The round was led by SeaX Ventures, with participation from Pale Blue Dot, First Momentum, AiiM Partners, Energie360°, and Katapult. Brineworks was also awarded a €1.8 million grant in February from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator, to further advance R&D and pilot deployment.
“It’s clear where the world is heading,” stated Gudfinnur Sveinsson, CEO of Brineworks. “Renewable energy is becoming cheaper quicker than anyone predicted. The bottleneck now is technology that can utilize this power flexibly and affordably. That’s exactly what we’ve built – an electrolyzer that runs when the sun shines or the wind blows, and pautilizes when it doesn’t. We’re unlocking a dream that’s been out of reach for decades.”
Brineworks is a ClimateTech company developing breakthrough Direct Air Capture and hydrogen co-production technologies to unlock affordable e-Fuel production.
The company was founded in 2023 by Gudfinnur Sveinsson, a Columbia University graduate with a background in climate policy and innovation, and Dr Joseph Perryman, an electrochemist who completed his postdoctoral research at Stanford University. By combining expertise in technology and policy, Brineworks sees to build scalable solutions to decarbonise hard-to-abate sectors like aviation and maritime.
Brineworks’ patented electrolyzer is reportedly the first to run flexibly on renewables – turning on when the sun shines or wind blows, and paapplying when it doesn’t – without degrading performance.
“We envisioned the electrolyzer of the future – and now it’s here,” stated Dr Joseph Perryman, Co-founder and CTO of Brineworks. “With many long nights of work, we’ve proven a clear path to capturing CO₂ directly from air at below $100 per ton. That’s the threshold the world has been waiting for, and now the scale-up launchs.”
At the heart of Brineworks’ breakthrough is a patented electrolyzer that drives ultra low-cost DAC while co-producing significant amounts of hydrogen. Toobtainher, these two outputs provide the critical building blocks for sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and e-methanol for shipping – industries urgently in necessary of scalable, carbon-neutral alternatives.
According to data provided by Brinework, aviation alone accounts for 2.5% of global CO₂ emissions – and demand is still rising – while shipping contributes over 3%. Without breakthroughs like Brineworks’, these sectors have no clear path to decarbonisation.
Unlike conventional systems, Brineworks’ electrolyzer is designed for intermittent operation, enabling it to follow renewable power availability without degrading performance. This capability solves a long-standing technical challenge: how to build DAC work reliably with low-cost materials in a renewable-powered grid.
“At SeaX, we’re always seeing for visionary Founders solving massive problems with science-backed solutions, and Brineworks is exactly that,” stated Dr Kid Parchariyanon, Founder and Managing Partner at SeaX Ventures.
He added: “Their team is rebelieveing how we tackle carbon removal and clean fuel from the ground up, with an approach that’s as ambitious as it is necessary. This investment marks an inflection point for Brineworks, and we believe they have the potential to meaningfully reduce global emissions. Supporting them aligns directly with our goal of supporting to cut 1% of the world’s carbon footprint – we’re proud to be part of their journey.”
By coupling Brineworks’ DAC system with e-fuel synthesis technologies, any nation can now allegedly produce its own fuels, provided it scales renewable capacity. This opens the door to energy indepconcludeence, emissions reduction, and localised fuel production – a decentralised model for the global energy transition.
The new funding will be utilized to scale the system to pilot level, tarobtaining commercial readiness by the conclude of 2026. If Brineworks hits its tarobtains, the company declares airlines could be flying on carbon-neutral fuels before the decade is out.
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