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Picture ©Valentin Bianchi / Hans Lucas by De Tijd.

Unique hybrid technology addresses a critical gap in CO2 capture for low-concentration emissions

2025 March 25 - In 2024, Europe has decided to evolve its system for taxing CO2 emissions. The new rules concerning the Emission Trading System (ETS) indicate that the free quotas allocated to companies (~65% today) will gradually disappear by 2034 to encourage industries to reduce their emissions. By combining the disappearance of free quotas with the increase in CO2 prices, taxes to be paid could be six times higher in 2034 than in 2024!

Aware of these realities, industries are looking for solutions to reduce their CO2 emissions. However, there is currently no economically viable CO2 capture technology available for CO2 concentrations between 4% and 15%, which account for 50% of global emissions!

ARK has a unique hybrid capture technology that cuts capture costs in half compared to conventional technologies.

ARK Capture Solutions, a Cleantech startup developing and building equipment that captures CO2 from industrial flue gases, announces today it has raised over €2.2 million in pre-seed funding. This funding round, which comes just 9 months after the company's founding, was led by Aperam Ventures and Seeder Fund. It will enable ARK to accelerate the development of its unique proprietary CO2 capture technology.

With the pressing need to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, the capture, utilization, and storage of carbon (CCUS) has become crucial. ARK is addressing a critical gap with its innovative point source CO2 capture technology. The company is also assessing new business models (e.g Capture As A Service) and is able to meet viability for both large and small-scale units.

ARK's unique hybrid technology stands out due to its low capture costs (both CAPEX and OPEX) and its forward-thinking design : autonomous, modular, HSE-friendly, and all-electric. "We are proud to offer a solution able to unlock an unaddressed market segment, representing 50% of the world’s emissions", said Samuel Thiry and Aurélien Vantomme, founders at ARK Capture Solutions.

This significant investment highlights the growing interest and confidence in ARK's ambition to mitigate climate change by unlocking carbon capture technology for low-concentration CO2 emissions. ARK’s first funding round also reflects strong industry confidence and support, including from Aperam Ventures.

"We are delighted to partner with the ARK Capture Solutions team. Their innovative solution aligns perfectly with our carbon neutrality goals, by effectively addressing flue gases with low CO2 concentrations across our industrial process.

As lead industrial investor, we are eager to implement and test their demonstration unit at Aperam Châtelet. We support the development of this groundbreaking decarbonization solution, which has the potential to transform a broad range of industrial sectors", comments Thorsten Zimmermann, Head of Aperam Ventures.

The new funding will be used to upscale the technology, expand the team, accelerate product development, and enhance market entry strategies.

ARK is powered by an outstanding technical core team of 5 professionals with exceptional track records. The team blends former high-level managers from top-tier industrial companies with esteemed scientists and young innovators. They are geared for rapid growth by their fast execution and agile approach. ARK Capture Solutions plans to upscale its technology to the next level. A prototype capable of capturing 2 tons of CO2 per year is already operational. ARK is now scaling up to a 40 tons per year pilot and developing a 400-1000 tons per year Industrial Demonstration Unit in collaboration with 3 top-ranked industrial partners.

This innovative project is supported by leading investors, including Aperam Ventures, Seeder Fund, Climate Club, BeAngels, Lune Ventures, InvestBW, Noshaq, and Wallonie Entreprendre. This momentum is also reinforced by the support of the District Clean Tech, Heart for Cleantech, CEI LLN and A6K.