Carbontech Development Initiative Announces Round 3 Awards

NEW YORK CITY — The Carbontech Development Initiative (CDI) proudly unveils its latest cohort of funded projects awarding over $2.6 million to eleven innovative startup and academic teams dedicated to researching, developing, and commercializing pivotal negative emissions technologies. Joining the 28 teams from CDI’s first two rounds, these 11 awardees are positioned to drive advancements across three core technology domains:

• CO2 capture via direct air and point-sources, such as industry and power generation.
• CO2-to- materials and products for the buildings sector.
• CO2-to-chemicals, fuels, and other products and materials.

With the inclusion of the third cohort of awardees, the CDI program now backs 39 teams devoted to advancing crucial carbontech technologies with non-dilutive grant funding. This solidifies CDI's position as a leading catalytic funder in the field, steadfastly advancing our mission to support vital research initiatives and startups essential to the carbontech value chain, facilitating technology transfer, nurturing innovation commercialization, and cementing New York State as a global Carbontech hub in alignment with the state’s ambitious climate objectives.

Through a rigorous and competitive selection process, CDI has strategically selected its third cohort spanning a spectrum of scientific and engineering innovation in diverse negative emissions technologies. The cohort includes six academic teams selected through CDI’s early-stage research programs (Carbontech Leap and Propel Carbontech), focused on pioneering scientific research to advance groundbreaking technologies within CDI’s designated areas of interest. Additionally, five startup teams were selected through CDI’s commercialization program, Bridge Carbontech, which supports teams advancing groundbreaking laboratory-proven technologies. These teams (listed below) will concentrate on overcoming barriers hindering the transition of these technologies from the lab to the market. 

Bridge Carbontech:

• Mantel Capture
• Ouros Materials
• Secant Fuel
• Carbon to Stone
• Carbon Infuse

Carbontech Leap (Columbia University teams):

• Artificial Flowstones for Scalable and Cost-Effective CO2 Capture and Mineralization (Dr. Shaina Kelly, Dr. Dan Esposito, Dr. Shiho Kawashima)
• Enabling Large-Scale Photothermal Desorption of CO2 (Dr. Nanfang Yu & Dr. Arvind Narayanaswamy)

Propel Carbontech:

• Nanobubble-Driven Mixotrophy-Based Biorefinery for Sustainable Carbon Capture and Nutrient Recovery (Dr. Wen Zhang, New Jersey Institute of Technology)
• To Mineralize Calcium-Silicates into Carbonated Construction Components using Additive Manufacturing (Dr. Reza Moini, Princeton University)
• Accelerating the Decarbonization by using a Plasma-Based Process for Capturing and Converting CO2 in One Step (Dr. Chinmoy Baroi, University of Illinois)
• Structured Contactors Tailored for Amine Sorbents in Direct Air Capture (Dr. Christopher Jones, Georgia Tech)

Representing both university-based researchers and innovative startups, this cohort spans a geographically diverse range across the United States—New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Georgia, and New Jersey—and includes one team from Montreal, QC, Canada. 

Jim Aloise, CDI's Executive Director, highlighted the exceptional quality of the applicant pool, stating, “We are deeply impressed by the breadth of expertise and innovation shown by our incoming cohort of funded projects. Each team showcases dynamic potential to drive transformative solutions in addressing the impacts of climate change. We're excited to offer direct mentorship, world-class guidance from industry leaders, and essential funding to help these teams fully realize their commercialization potential."

A full list of CDI funded projects is available here.

Each team in CDI’s third cohort will receive non-dilutive project funding, along with comprehensive support to pursue specific scientific or engineering breakthroughs and address technical or commercialization challenges. The program includes extensive commercialization training through CDI’s accelerator program, encompassing managerial, commercial, and entrepreneurial practices tailored to carbontech, as well as broader instruction in climate science and policy. Teams will benefit from customized education, mentorship, and access to industry networks and financial partners, with the overarching goal of facilitating their journey to scaled deployment of their innovations.

Fall 2025 – CDI’s Fourth Grant Solicitation

Applications to CDI’s Round 4 solicitation are open until Wednesday, January 14, 2026 at 11:59PM ET.  Interested candidates can apply here. Information sessions on Round 4 will be held in December 2025 and January 2026. To learn more, please visit our website or email [email protected] for further information.

About CDI

Based out of Columbia Technology Ventures, CDI is a carbontech market transformation and grant-seeding commercialization hub. CDI connects a global ecosystem of academic, philanthropic, business, and government actors to fill related incubation, personnel, and financial gaps within the carbontech sector. CDI leverages Columbia University’s leadership in carbontech research for over 20 years, pioneering scientific concepts and leading the way in legal and policy initiatives. CDI’s grant-making program is supported by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), with the aim of transforming New York State into a hub for the carbontech industry.  To achieve this, CDI is providing support to researchers and entrepreneurs, facilitating the transfer of technology, and promoting the commercialization of new carbontech innovations.