CyanoCapture and RepAir win the 2022 New Energy Challenge
On November 3, the finals of the 2022 edition of the New Energy Challenge took place at Web Summit in Lisbon – the world’s largest start-up and tech event. Start-ups CyanoCapture and RepAir came out as the winners of the seventh edition of the challenge.
CyanoCapture removes carbon from the atmosphere on an industrial scale, by harnessing genetically modified cyanobacteria.
RepAir focuses on carbon capture technologies and has developed a low energy consumption solution to capture CO₂ from the air by using electricity.
The ten start-ups and scale-ups from across Europe and Israel presented their innovative ideas that will radically change the current energy system in front of the jury. The theme of the 2022 New Energy Challenge was Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS). The jury was also looking for smart digital solutions to reduce energy consumption and solutions that prepare the energy infrastructure for the future. All finalists were given the opportunity to work with investors and experts during the final phase of the New Energy Challenge to further build their businesses with additional knowledge, contacts, funding, and support. From the ten finalists, CyanoCapture and RepAir were the chosen winners and now have the opportunity to further engage with Shell to shape and execute a potential collaboration.
The winning innovations and organisations are:
CyanoCapture (UK)
For demonstrating the power of genetically modified cyanobacteria to provide affordable, scalable, and clean carbon capture on an industrial scale.
RepAir (Israel)
For developing an affordable, sustainable, and scalable DAC system that consumes only a third of the energy required by alternative DAC technologies. RepAir’s solution is based on an electrochemical device that uses electricity to separate CO₂ from air.
Meet all winners and finalists
David Evans, CyanoCapture: “The New Energy Challenge has been a fantastic journey for us. It has been amazing to have expert sessions that helped sharpen our pitch story and improve how we communicate what CyanoCapture does and believes to a wider audience. It’s also been amazing to meet decision makers from large companies who are trying to reach net-zero and be able to show them our technology and move forward towards potential collaborations.”
Amir Shiner, RepAir: “The New Energy Challenge is one of the most important competitions for emerging climate tech and offers exposure, expert feedback, and important validation. As part of the competition, we took part in valuable sessions and workshops that helped us refine our message. To be selected as the winner from over 60 worthy competitors is a thrill, but more importantly, it’s a major vote of confidence in our product, approach, and our mission. Now it’s time to use those lessons to accelerate scaling our technology with the support of Shell and others.”
The New Energy Challenge is one of the most important competitions for emerging climate tech.
“Each of the participants have strong solutions in mind that can make a significant contribution to a new energy system. Innovative ideas need a stage and investments to flourish and become scalable. Finding that partner is often the problem; the New Energy Challenge can help here. The energy transition is a radical change, and we need different sorts of collaborations for that. We look forward to further working with the winners,” said Geert van de Wouw, Managing Director of Shell Ventures and president of the New Energy Challenge jury.
This year there was also the opportunity to vote for the ‘public choice’ and the title was won by Barton Blakeley Technologies. In addition, a membership for the Energy Transition Campus Amsterdam (ETCA) was made available to CarbonSpace. ETCA is a new place where Shell in 2022 opened the doors of its research and development facilities on the northern banks of the IJ river in Amsterdam to promising start-ups, scale-ups, academics, and companies working on the energy transition. A dozen companies have already taken their seat there.
About the New Energy Challenge
The New Energy Challenge has been organized for seven consecutive years by Rockstart, Shell, Unknown Group and Yes!Delft. The aim is to bring together the brightest start-ups and scale-ups from Europe and Israel that can make a lasting impact on the energy system of the future to enable the acceleration of the energy transition. In line with the opening of the Energy Transition Campus in Amsterdam, we aim to promote knowledge sharing and innovation. More information about the New Energy Challenge can be found here.
Meet our winners and finalists
