Amsterdam-based climate technology startup Brineworks has closed a €6.8 million seed round (about US$7.3 million) to accelerate commercialization of its Direct Air Capture (DAC) system and associated electrolyzer, and earlier this year the company received a €1.8 million European Innovation Council Accelerator grant to support pilot deployment.
Brineworks says its core innovation is a patented, renewables‑driven electrolyzer that operates flexibly with intermittent solar and wind power while co‑producing hydrogen, enabling the production of clean CO2 and H2 feedstocks for synthetic fuels; the company targets capture costs below €100 per tonne of CO2. The startup was founded in 2023 by CEO Gudfinnur Sveinsson and CTO Dr Joseph Perryman.
The seed round was led by SeaX Ventures with participation from Pale Blue Dot, First Momentum, AiiM Partners, Energie360°, and Katapult. The new capital will be used to scale the electrolyzer and DAC system from prototype to pilot level, with the company targeting commercial readiness by the end of 2026.
If the technology reaches its cost and scale targets, Brineworks positions DAC‑H2 co‑production as a feedstock pathway for sustainable aviation fuel and e‑methanol for shipping, sectors that are among the hardest to decarbonize and together account for a meaningful share of global CO2 emissions; the next phase will focus on demonstration projects and validating economics at pilot scale.
