UP Catalyst, a Tallinn-based firm specialising in remodeling industrial CO2 emissions into regionally produced vital uncooked supplies, has secured an €18 million mortgage from the European Funding Financial institution (EIB).
This financing is essential for scaling up the molten salt electrolysis course of, enabling the utilisation of CO2 in bigger volumes to supply high-performance supplies for batteries, defence gear, paints, coatings, polymers, and concrete. UP Catalyst course of reportedly requires much less vitality than conventional fossil-based options.
“Securing EIB’s financing is vital milestone for UP Catalyst because it immediately helps the corporate’s strategic mission to handle the rising deficit of graphite – a vital uncooked materials within the EU, the US, Korea and Japan,” stated UP Catalyst Chief Govt Officer Rait Maasikas. “Working with the EIB not solely validates our revolutionary expertise and native manufacturing capabilities but additionally alerts to the market that UP Catalyst is on the forefront of strengthening the resilience of EU industries and manufacturing within the transition to a extra impartial product provide chain.”
Based in 2019, UP Catalyst transforms industrial CO2 emissions into price aggressive, high-quality and energy-efficient graphite and carbon nanotubes for electrical car batteries and a variety of different functions, together with paints and coatings, polymers and concrete.
In 2024, the corporate opened their very own in-house product testing and validation, and a brand new manufacturing facility for carbon supplies in Estonia. In keeping with the corporate, they’ve achieved the bottom carbon footprint for carbon nanotubes and one of many lowest for battery-grade graphite, as verified by its cradle-to-gate Life Cycle Evaluation (LCA).
UP Catalyst goals to transform 1 / 4 of 1,000,000 tons of CO2 into carbon-neutral uncooked supplies by 2030. In March 2025, the corporate was chosen as a strategic mission associate by the European Fee below the Essential Uncooked Supplies Act (CRMA).
In keeping with figures supplied to EU-Startups, the worldwide graphite provide hole is projected to achieve almost 800,000 metric tonnes by 2030. With Europe accounting for about 15% of that shortfall, UP Catalyst goals to produce as much as 50% of the area’s graphite demand hole by means of its deliberate scale-up.
“A key pillar for us is to finance revolutionary net-zero applied sciences that may assist to scale back adversarial affect on our local weather and setting whereas strengthening Europe’s competitiveness,” stated EIB Vice-President Thomas Östros. “UP Catalyst embodies this imaginative and prescient by pioneering carbon seize and utilisation options which are each revolutionary and impactful. We’re excited to assist them in scaling their operations and advancing sustainable applied sciences that can form the way forward for Europe’s inexperienced transition.”
The EIB funding, which takes the type of enterprise debt, might be used to advance the European Union’s objectives of preventing local weather change, decreasing import dependency and strengthening the superior manufacturing sector.
UP Catalyst has efficiently scaled its expertise from laboratory to business scale, with product efficiency being validated in large-scale battery cells utilizing GEN3alpha in 2025.
The corporate has additionally not too long ago confirmed that its graphite meets the standard requirements of fossil-based options, highlighting its potential as a neighborhood and sustainable substitute within the vitality storage and defence industries.
With assist from the EIB, the corporate plans to additional broaden manufacturing to 270 tonnes of carbon nanotubes and 1,350 tonnes of inexperienced graphite per 12 months by 2027 – a scale-up that can require the utilisation of roughly 6,000 tonnes of CO2 yearly.
The EIB assist is backed by the InvestEU initiative. The operation is a part of the EIB InvestEU Assure Settlement, specializing in sustainable vital uncooked supplies. The EU prioritises these supplies to make sure a safe provide for its industries.
