Kenyan startup, Octavia Carbon, has secured a $5 million seed funding round to revolutionize carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere. This innovative company, which was founded in 2022 by Martin Freimüller and Duncan Kariuki, is set to launch Project Hummingbird. Project Hummingbird is the first Direct Air Capture (DAC) and storage plant in the Southern Hemisphere.
Octavia’s technology, often described as “mechanical trees,” filters CO2 directly from the air and stores it underground in Kenya’s Rift Valley, where it mineralizes into solid rock. Leveraging the country’s unique geothermal resources and geological conditions, the company aims to become the most cost-effective hub for CO2 removal by 2025.
The funding round, co-led by African venture capital firms Lateral Frontiers and E4E Africa, attracted participation from several other investors, highlighting the growing interest in climate tech solutions from the continent.
“This funding enables us to soon become the world’s second DAC company to complete the full cycle of deploying CO2 capture and geological storage in the field,” said Freimüller, Octavia’s CEO and co-founder.
What sets Octavia apart is its use of geothermal waste heat, which services 80% of its electricity needs, significantly lowering operational costs. The company has already pre-sold 2,000 tons of carbon dioxide credits and aims to capture 1,000 tons of CO2 annually through Project Hummingbird.
“Humanity is putting unsustainable amounts of CO2 in the atmosphere. We’re taking it back out and putting it back where it came from,” Freimüller said.
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As the world races to achieve net-zero emissions within the next 25 years, Octavia’s innovative approach could play a crucial role. The International Energy Agency projects that DAC technology could remove up to ten gigatonnes of CO2 annually by 2050.
With its unique blend of innovation, sustainability, and African ingenuity, Octavia Carbon is not just fighting climate change – it’s redefining the continent’s role in shaping a greener future.
