The Carbon to Value Initiative Announces Year 5 Startup Cohort for its Carbontech Accelerator

Climatetech leaders from Greentown Labs, the Urban Future Lab, and Fraunhofer USA welcome 10 startups to the initiative

SOMERVILLE, Mass. and HOUSTON and BROOKLYN, N.Y., Nov. 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Carbon to Value Initiative (C2V Initiative)—a collaboration among Greentown Labs, the Urban Future Lab at NYU Tandon School of Engineering, and Fraunhofer USA to catalyze the carbontech ecosystem—announces 10 startup participants for the fifth year of its carbontech accelerator.

The C2V Initiative received 165 applications from 33 countries, representing a wide variety of carbontech innovations, including point source and direct air capture; carbon conversion into added-value products such as fuels, chemicals, and materials; and carbon sequestration and removal via enhanced mineralization, ocean alkalinization, and biomass carbon removal and storage.

After a highly competitive deliberation and selection process, 10 companies were chosen to participate in the fifth cohort of the C2V Initiative's accelerator:

• Arbon (Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S.) develops a humidity-swing carbon-capture solution, capturing CO₂ from the air or point-source without heat or pressure.
• Cella Mineral Storage (New York, N.Y., U.S.) develops a subsurface-mineralization technology with integrated software, enabling new ways to sequester CO₂ underground.
• ICODOS (Mannheim, Germany) transforms emissions into value through a point-source carbon capture and methanol synthesis process in a single, modularized system.
• Lite-1 (Vancouver, B.C., Canada) uses advanced biomanufacturing processes to produce circular colourants for use in food, cosmetics, and textiles.
• Mission Zero Technologies (London, U.K.) has developed and internationally deployed an electrified, direct-air carbon capture solution that employs both liquid-adsorption and electrochemical technologies.
• Octavia Carbon (Nairobi, Kenya) develops a solid-adsorption-based, direct-air carbon capture solution that utilizes geothermal heat.
• Rushnu (Pleasanton, Calif., U.S.) integrates point-source carbon capture with chemical production, turning salt and CO₂ into chlorine-based chemicals and minerals.
• Sora Fuel (Cambridge, Mass., U.S.) integrates direct-air capture with direct conversion of the captured carbon into syngas for production of sustainable aviation fuel.
• Turnover Labs (Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S.) develops modular electrolyzers that transform raw, industrial CO₂ emissions into chemical building blocks, without capture or purification.
• Universal Matter (Burlington, Ontario, Canada) develops a Flash Joule Heating process that converts carbon waste such as end-of-life plastics, tires, or industrial waste into graphene.

Over the six-month accelerator, which is designed to advance the startups' commercialization efforts and de-risk their carbontech innovations, the cohort will gain access to the C2V Initiative's Carbontech Leadership Council (CLC). The CLC is an invitation-only group of corporate and nonprofit leaders across diverse industry sectors who foster commercialization opportunities and identify avenues for technology validation, testing, and demonstration. 

Year 5 of the initiative will feature active involvement from all CLC member companies, offering startups exposure to a diverse array of market and business verticals in addition to tailored professional mentorship from some of the industry's leading professionals. The goal of these startup-corporate engagements is to foster collaboration opportunities across the carbontech ecosystem.

Current CLC members include leaders from Carbon180, Caterpillar Inc., CO₂ Value Europe, Energy Impact Partners, Evonik, Fluor, Johnson Matthey, L'Oréal, Shell, TotalEnergies, Veolia, W. L. Gore & Associates, and XPRIZE. The council is expected to continue to grow in 2026 and beyond; full details on the CLC and its representatives can be found here.

The C2V Initiative is modeled on Greentown Go, Greentown's signature open-innovation program. Since the initiative's inception, the C2V Initiative has supported 35 startups that have raised over $600M in follow-on funding, leading to partnership engagements and 630+ business relationships, technology advancement, and industry growth. Ten startups have publicly announced partnerships with CLC members. Outcomes from the most recent year are available here.

"With a record number of applications this year, we continue to see a thriving carbontech innovation ecosystem, and we're proud of the role the C2V program played to build it," said Fred Clerc, Director of the C2V Initiative and Interim Managing Director of UFL "The selection process has been incredibly competitive and we can't wait to support these incredible 10 innovative companies on the forefront of carbontech!"

"The C2V Initiative is a prime example of NYU Tandon's impact area in Industrial, Urban & Environmental Sustainability. It also delivers on our Sustainable Engineering Initiative's commitment to translate laboratory research into real-world solutions," said Linda Ng Boyle, NYU Tandon Vice Dean for Research. "We're excited to support this cohort as they work alongside faculty to advance carbontech innovations that capture and convert carbon emissions into valuable products, a critical strategy for addressing climate change."

"The number-one reason startups engage with Greentown is to find customers, grow their businesses, and accelerate impact—and the Carbon to Value Initiative delivers exactly that," said Georgina Campbell Flatter, CEO of Greentown. "It's a powerful example of how meaningful engagement between entrepreneurs and industry turns innovation into commercial traction."

"The sophistication of this year's cohort reflects how far the carbontech sector has advanced," said Russ Zarras, Director of Strategic Initiatives at Fraunhofer USA. "These companies are tackling complex technical challenges with solutions that address real industrial needs. We're committed to providing the research capabilities and industry connections these startups need to validate, scale, and deploy their technologies."

The C2V Initiative will host a public Year 5 kickoff event on Dec. 4 at Greentown Boston; registration is available here. To learn more about the C2V Initiative, visit its website.

About the Urban Future Lab at NYU Tandon School of Engineering
The Urban Future Lab at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering is an innovation hub for best-in-class climatetech startups with a focus on clean energy and sustainable urban infrastructure solutions. A cornerstone of NYU Tandon's Sustainable Engineering Initiative (SEI), the UFL advances SEI's mission to develop new engineering strategies to avoid, mitigate, and remediate emissions responsible for climate change and environmental contamination, and that introduce novel ways to evaluate the impact of and adapt to these environmental challenges.

The UFL is home to four programs that support innovators on their journey to scale up and commercialize their businesses: ACRE is New York's longest-running climatetech incubator; Carbon to Value Initiative and Offshore Wind Innovation Hub bring innovative technologies and solutions to industry leaders; and the Innovate UK Global Incubator Programme supports entry in the U.S. for U.K.-based climatetech startups that can effectively grow and support the clean-growth goals of New York State. UFL also offers Clean Start, an advanced certificate from NYU for people seeking a transition into the climatetech sector.

Since 2009, UFL has supported 170+ startups with an industry-leading 93% company survival rate, raised $3.9B+ in venture capital, project finance, and grants, created 5,000+ jobs, and facilitated 100+ events with 2,000+ attendees per year.

For more information, visit ufl.nyc, LinkedIn, Instagram, and sign up for UFL's newsletter. For more information about NYU Tandon, visit engineering.nyu.edu.

About Greentown Labs
Greentown Labs is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit accelerating climatetech innovation for the planet, people, and prosperity. As the world's largest climatetech and energy startup incubator, Greentown catalyzes ecosystems to provide entrepreneurs mission-critical access to labs, equipment, customers, capital, talent, community, and resources for business and leadership growth. Greentown is home to more than 200 startups and has supported more than 625 since its founding in 2011; these startups have collectively created more than 16,500 jobs and raised more than $11B in funding. For more information, visit www.greentownlabs.com or follow Greentown on LinkedIn.

About Fraunhofer USA
Fraunhofer USA, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is dedicated to the advancement of applied research. Fraunhofer USA was founded in 1994 to conduct applied R&D for customers from industry and state governments and the federal government in the United States. Fraunhofer USA develops and validates scientific applications and technologies for industrial innovation in the USA. Fraunhofer USA's research centers in the United States and the Fraunhofer institutes of Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft in Germany work together to provide the most versatile, cutting-edge technologies to a global market. Fraunhofer USA offers unique transatlantic business opportunities to close the innovation gap from the lab to the real market. The research centers of Fraunhofer USA pursue strategic alliances with one or more of the numerous Fraunhofer institutes of Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft in Germany and with major research universities in the USA. For more information, please visit www.fraunhofer.org or LinkedIn and Twitter.

C2V Initiative Media Contact
Reena Karasin
Senior Director of Communications and Marketing, Greentown Labs
[email protected]

SOURCE Greentown Labs