Brineworks, a climate-tech startup, simply raised $5.5 million in seed funding in hopes of bringing a carbon-neutral different gas to marketplace for airways and cargo ships by the tip of 2026.
The Amsterdam-based startup claims it has quickly developed a low-cost, patented expertise over the previous two years that makes use of seawater to tug CO2 from seawater, which creates important quantities of hydrogen within the course of. The system, often called electrolysis, produces hydrogen and CO2 that may be saved and bought as sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and e-methanol for delivery. CEO Gudfinnur Sveinsson informed Fortune in an unique interview that the brand new funding can be used to scale the system to pilot stage, concentrating on a commercial-ready product by the tip of subsequent yr.
“What this (funding) is allowing us to do is really to take our technology to the next stage,” Sveinsson stated. “Getting to those very low costs in direct air capture will be key to both extract historical emissions out of the atmosphere and store them permanently, but also to scale up these low-cost energy mediums like e-fuels for shipping and aviation.”
Sveinsson stated Brineworks’ expertise is designed for intermittent operation, permitting it solely to run on the “cheapest electricity sources available”: photo voltaic and wind. This helps drive down prices and differentiates his enterprise mannequin from rivals, he stated.
Brineworks has companions in North America, Europe, and Asia, and is trying to map out initiatives in Northern Africa and the Center East “to start demonstrating the technology at larger scales, showcasing that it works in different climates, which is very important for the scalability,” Sveinsson stated.
The startup lately acquired a $1.8 million grant in funding from the European Innovation Council’s Accelerator program, which invests in startups and SMEs.
The corporate was based in 2023 by Sveinsson, a Columbia College graduate with a background in local weather coverage and innovation, and Joseph Perryman, an electrochemist who accomplished his postdoctoral analysis at Stanford College. Perryman now works as CTO of Brineworks.
The seed funding spherical was led by SeaX Ventures, a San Francisco-based international venture-capital agency, which simply launched a climate-focused fund.
“I think they have the breakthrough technologies,” Child Parchariyanon, founder and managing companion at SeaX Ventures, informed Fortune.
SeaX Ventures usually invests in early-stage firms, together with Bitkub, one in all Southeast Asia’s largest crypto exchanges, and Kind One Vitality, a fusion-energy firm that has been valued between $214 and $321 million following main funding rounds in 2025.
International investments for renewable power growth had a file first half of 2025, reaching $386 billion and up 10% from the yr prior, in keeping with BloombergNEF’s Renewable Vitality Tracker. This progress has been largely spurred by international offshore wind and small-scale photo voltaic. The Worldwide Vitality Company’s World Vitality Funding report estimates capital flows to the power sector are set to rise to $3.3 trillion this yr, with renewable power funding doubling that of investments in direction of fossil fuels. Low-emissions gas will account for $40 billion, the report says.
As renewable power funding grows, firms wish to differentiate themselves from competitors.
“We envisioned the electrolyzer of the future—and now it’s here,” Perryman stated in an organization launch.
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