A Houston startup that's using aerospace engineering in the direct air capture space has received funding to continue research and development on its technology.
Victory Over Carbon Inc. received a Small Business Innovation Research grant for $272,488 from U.S. National Science Foundation. The company, which is based out of Greentown Labs in Houston, has created its GigaDAC system that uses a spray to aerodynamic separator model, reducing costs while maintaining efficacy, according to a news release from the company.
“NSF accelerates the translation of emerging technologies into transformative new products and services,” Erwin Gianchandani, NSF assistant director for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, says in the release. “We take great pride in funding deep-technology startups and small businesses that will shape science and engineering results into meaningful solutions for today and tomorrow.”
GigaDAC's technology, as it scales, should reduce the cost of construction by two thirds, per the company, while optimizing current DAC operations.
“DAC is a critical pillar to solving climate change, and an immense undertaking as society gets serious about scaling in a way that is both technologically sound as well as commercially viable,” Harrison Rice, CEO of Victory Over Carbon, says in the release “Today’s leading DAC contactor designs are largely an offshoot of cooling tower technology. As a positive, these systems work — but they’re not optimized to scale. For GigaDAC, we went to a blank slate and started with scalability as the first principal; both to build, and to operate efficiently.
"Getting this right means winning in a market expected to grow to over $1 trillion in annual revenue,” he continues.
Since the company has secured funding from the America’s Seed Fund powered by NSF, it can apply for additional funding totaling up to $2 million.