Carbon Removal Startup Noya Raises $11 Million to Accelerate Direct Air Capture Solution
Direct Air Capture-focused climate tech startup Noya PBC announced today that it has raised $11 million, with proceeds aimed at enabling the company to increase hiring, expand its testing and manufacturing capabilities, and to deploy its first commercial pilot later this year.
Founded in 2020 by CEO Josh Santos and CTO Daniel Cavero, San Francisco-based Noya has developed a Direct Air Capture (DAC) approach using affordable and readily available materials and utilizing a modular and scalable design. The company partners with clean energy and CO2 storage companies to permanently remove CO2 from the atmosphere, and offers carbon removal credits to companies looking to reach net zero targets. Noya’s credits have been purchased by companies including Shopify and Watershed.
Santos said:
“By developing and deploying Direct Air Capture technology, we will be able to scale carbon removal to the volumes and costs needed to meet global climate targets. We are deeply committed to removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to help restore our shared planet.”
The financing announcement comes as the carbon removal market, and DAC technology in particular, are positioned for significant growth over the next several years. DAC technology, listed by the IEA as a key carbon removal option in the transition to a net zero energy system, extracts CO2 directly from the atmosphere for use as a raw material or permanently removed when combined with storage. According to the landmark IPCC climate change mitigation study released last year, scenarios that limit warming to 1.5°C include carbon dioxide removal methods scaling to billions of tons of removal annually over the coming decades, with DAC positioned to potentially account for a significant portion of the total.
The Series A funding round was led by thesis-driven venture capital firm Union Square Ventures and fund management network Collaborative Fund, and included participation from investors Lowercarbon Capital, Fifty Years, MCJ Collective, EQT Foundation, Climate Capital, Nexwell Group, and a confidential university endowment.
Fred Wilson, Managing Partner at Union Square Ventures, said:
“Carbon removal is critical for the planet to meet its climate targets. We believe direct air capture can become the leading way to perform carbon removal, and Noya’s low capex, high modularity process can become the leading direct air capture approach.”
Sophie Bakalar, Partner at Collaborative Fund, added:
“At Collab, our mission has always been to bring planet-improving technologies out of the lab and into the mainstream. What Noya is doing is building a technological foundation for global sustainable change. DAC is one of the most promising pathways to scale affordable, high-quality CDR, and they’re scaling this technology at a rate we’ve never seen before. We’re excited to be working alongside them and Fred as we embark on what is a truly world changing climate journey.”
Wilson and Bakalar from have both joined Noya’s board of directors.