ARPA-E awardee Verdox announced $80M in follow-on funding on February 2nd, 2022. The funding from a group of investors including Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Prelude Ventures, and Lowercarbon Capital will help develop and deploy the company’s novel electrochemical carbon capture technology.

The capture of atmospheric greenhouse gases (GHGs) is an important part of a diversified portfolio of technologies to mitigate U.S. GHG emissions. The capture of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) can lead to net-negative emissions, an important element in limiting global temperature increases resulting from anthropogenic CO₂ emissions. Capture of atmospheric CO₂ can meet such needs and offset historical emissions when coupled with storage or certain utilization pathways.

Verdox received ARPA-E funding as part of our Supporting Entrepreneurial Energy Discovers (SEED) Exploratory Topic, which seeks to catalyze energy discoveries by exploring disruptive concepts in energy-related technologies within small businesses and collaborations with universities and national labs. Verdox set out to develop a scalable, proof-of-concept direct air capture (DAC) prototype used for capturing carbon through their ARPA-E project.

Verdox’s technology uses electrochemical cells to facilitate carbon capture upon charging and releases carbon upon discharging, a process they refer to as the “electro-swing.” The team developed a new material that can selectively capture CO₂ from a mix of gases when charged with electricity. While many current CO₂ removal solutions are energy-intensive and rely on large amounts of heat and water, the Verdox team’s approach eliminates that need.

The Verdox team looks to continue to commercialize their electrochemical capture system, offering an efficient, affordable, and scalable carbon capture technology.