Aramco Ventures, the investment arm of Saudi Aramco, has participated in a funding round for Ucaneo, a German startup focused on developing the country’s largest direct air capture facility. This investment follows Ucaneo’s successful seed round of €6.75 million ($7.3 million) in September 2024, although the specific amount of Aramco Ventures’ investment has not been disclosed.

Based in Berlin, Ucaneo aims to enhance direct air capture (DAC) technology, which is designed to efficiently remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere on a large scale. The demand for DAC is rising as both industries and governments search for scalable solutions to reduce emissions and achieve global climate targets.

Bruce Niven, the executive managing director at Aramco Ventures, highlighted the significance of DAC, stating that if it can be achieved at a competitive cost, it could play a crucial role in global decarbonization. He emphasized Ucaneo’s innovative approach, which utilizes novel solvents and renewable energy-driven electrochemistry, as a potential cost-effective and efficient solution. He expressed excitement about partnering with Ucaneo’s team to advance this technology toward widespread adoption.

The Ucaneo facility is slated to open in the first half of 2026 and is anticipated to reduce DAC costs to below €300 per tonne of CO2, making it one of the most cost-competitive solutions available globally. Additionally, Ucaneo has initiated an industrial pilot project that captures 30-50 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, establishing it as one of Germany’s largest DAC test sites.

Florian Tiller, co-founder and CEO of Ucaneo, expressed enthusiasm about the partnership with Aramco Ventures, noting the importance of finding an investor committed to scaling efforts and playing a leading role in the energy transition. He remarked that impactful scale and strong partnerships are essential for innovative technology developers like Ucaneo to contribute to building a net-zero economy.

This investment by Aramco Ventures comes shortly after it led a $30 million Series A funding round for US-based climate tech startup Spiritus, in collaboration with Khosla Ventures, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America, and TDK Ventures. Spiritus aims to expand its DAC technology to reduce emissions from data centers and industrial construction without hindering growth.

Aramco’s support for Ucaneo underscores its increasing emphasis on carbon capture and emissions reduction technologies as part of a broader strategy to facilitate the energy transition.