As part of its technology portfolio, Shell invests in net-zero-carbon and carbon-removal technologies to mitigate and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Go Make 2023 will help support Shell’s strategy by facilitating the development and scaling of technologies for carbon utilization, storage, and traceability in areas such as chemicals, low-carbon fuels, nature-based solutions, sectoral decarbonization (including agriculture, construction, mining, and more), bio-CCU, and wider carbon-abatement-enabling technologies.
Startup participants
After a highly competitive selection and deliberation process that saw 110 applicants, a cohort of six cutting-edge startup participants was selected:
- Caravel Bio (Portland, Ore., U.S.) is developing a novel synthetic biology platform that uses microbial spores and enzymes to create catalysts that are long-lasting and can withstand extreme conditions and environments.
- Circularise (Den Haag, Netherlands) develops a blockchain platform that provides digital product passports for end-to-end traceability and secure data exchange for industrial supply chains.
- Corumat (Yakima, Wash. U.S.) converts organic waste into high-performance, insulating, greaseproof, and biodegradable packaging materials.
- Lydian (Cambridge, Mass., U.S.) develops a fully electrified reactor that can convert a variety of gaseous, non-fossil feedstocks into pure syngas with high efficiency.
- Maple Materials (Richmond, Calif., U.S.) develops a low-cost electrolysis process to split carbon dioxide into graphite and oxygen.
- Universal Matter (Burlington, Ontario, Canada) develops a proprietary Flash Joule Heating process that converts carbon waste into high-value and high-performance graphene materials to efficiently create sustainable circular economies.
Program outline
Selected startups will work closely with Shell over six months to explore potential partnership outcomes aimed at accelerating novel carbon utilization, storage, and traceability solutions. Throughout the program, startups will benefit from mentorship, networking opportunities, educational workshops, and partnership-focused programming to support collaboration. Participants will also receive desk space and membership at Greentown Labs for the duration of the program and $15,000 in non-dilutive stipend funding.
“At Greentown Labs we recognize and appreciate the role energy incumbents must play in the energy transition, and we’re eager to facilitate meaningful partnerships between these impressive startups and Shell—not only to advance these technologies but also to help Shell achieve its sustainability goals,” said Kevin Knobloch, CEO and President of Greentown Labs. “We know carbon utilization, storage, and traceability will play a critical role in our collective efforts to reach net-zero, and we’re enthusiastic about the potential impact these companies can have in that work.”
Greentown Labs and Go Make 2023
Greentown Labs runs Greentown Go programs across five tracks: Go Make (manufacturing), Go Move (transportation), Go Energize (energy and electricity), Go Build (buildings), and Go Grow (food and agriculture). These startup-corporate partnerships programs challenge the status quo within each key greenhouse-gas sector as they accelerate partnerships between industry giants and innovators.
The Go Make 2023 cohort will participate in three workshops with Greentown Go and Shell, culminating in a showcase event on March 27, 2024 at Greentown Labs’ Houston location.
Image courtesy of Bessi: bess.hamiti@gmail.com via Pixabay
