UP Catalyst

🇪🇺 This week, UP Catalyst CFO Rait Maasikas joined other Estonian business leaders and key stakeholders for a visit to the European Commission! The delegation had a discussions with Kaja Kallas, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, as well as Andrius Kubilius, European Commissioner for #Defence and #Space. One of the important topics in the agenda was Europe's supply security for #critical raw materials. #Graphite — officially recognised as a highly critical raw material by #NATO in 2024 — is essential for both military and civilian applications. But there’s a challenge: #Europe lacks graphite supply security and faces serious risks due to limited supplier diversification and heavy reliance on one key region — 🇨🇳 #China. UP Catalyst, recognised as a #StrategicProject under the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act (#CRMA), is working to produce climate-neutral, European-made graphite from CO₂ emissions. Our goal is to help Europe meet its #2030 targets for graphite processing and cut reliance on external suppliers! © European Union, 2025, CC BY 4.0  Photographer: Lukasz Kobus

UP Catalyst releases the newest and largest innovation yet - the Generation 3 Alpha Reactor! This advanced reactor is capable of producing 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮 𝗳𝗲𝘄 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀, marking a major step forward in sustainable material production at commercial scale. Our CTO, Dr. Sebastian Pohlmann, explains how the new reactor works, what sets it apart from earlier reactors, and what are the next steps for UP Catalyst. 🇪🇺 In March, our graphite produced from CO₂ was recognised as a 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 under the 𝗖𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗮𝘄 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗔𝗰𝘁 (CRMA). We're proud to contribute to Europe’s efforts in securing critical raw materials and reaching its 𝟮𝟬𝟯𝟬 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘀. 📍 𝗪𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻? You can meet Dr. Sebastian Pohlmann at the 𝗖𝗢𝟮-𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗙𝘂𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 (April 29–30 in Cologne, Germany, organised by nova-Institut GmbH) and at the EIT RawMaterials Summit (May 13–15 in Brussels). #graphite #CRMA #CCU #EIT #deeptech

UP Catalyst secures €18 million European Investment Bank (EIB) financing to advance the EU’s #critical raw material production! The EIB is providing an €18 million loan to UP Catalyst to scale up molten salt electrolysis technology and produce high-performance carbon materials for #EV batteries, #defence, paints, coatings, polymers, and concrete. UP Catalyst's graphite produced from CO₂ emissions already meets the quality of fossil-based alternatives. This financing will help expand production to 270 tonnes of carbon nanotubes (#CNT) and 1,350 tonnes of climate-neutral #graphite annually —  key step toward our goal of producing 60 000 tons of graphite annually by 2030. At an official event held today at UP Catalyst’s production facility, the company showcased its new Generation 3 Alpha reactor and demonstrated live graphite production from CO₂ using operational #reactors. The event was attended by many guests, including Thomas Östros, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank (EIB); Maive Rute, Deputy Director-General (DG GROW) at the European Commission; and Andres Sutt, Minister of Energy and the Environment of Estonia. In March 2025, UP Catalyst was recognised as a Strategic Project Partner by the European Commission under the Critical Raw Materials Act (#CRMA). Both the EIB financing and this recognition as a Strategic Partner represent major milestones in accelerating the shift toward a climate-resilient, resource-secure Europe. #CRMA #graphite #CCU  

Excited to be pitching as one of the top 10 finalists in the Energy Tech Challengers competition, Carbon Tech Track! Join us at the Energy Tech Summit on April 9-10, 2025 in #Bilbao! Discover how critical battery raw materials like Graphite and Carbon Nanotubes are made from CO2 — right here in Europe!

𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗦𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗮𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲! 🇪🇸 Bianca Dragomir, Director of Cleantech for Iberia, discusses critical raw materials in her column at EL ESPAÑOL DISRUPTORES. Bianca highlights two key paradoxes of cleantech transition: 1️⃣ We strive for a future without carbon emissions, yet the raw materials needed for the clean energy transition often come with high environmental costs. 2️⃣ Many of these raw materials are sourced from vulnerable regions, often plagued by corruption or already suffering from climate change—where additional deforestation only worsens the situation. But there’s hope: many European startups are proving that things can be done differently and #locally. UP Catalyst and Skeleton Technologies are both mentioned as #Estonian companies pioneering sustainable solutions. For those who are in #Spain and want to learn more about UP Catalyst technology that transforms CO2 emissions into valuable critical raw materials, meet our CFO, Rait Maasikas, at Energy Tech Summit in Bilbao on April 9-10. Rait will also be pitching at the Energy Tech Challengers Competition during the event! #Spain #CCU #CCUS #CRMA #StrategicProjects

Energy security drives the transition to net-zero. But it can only be achieved with a local, resilient, and sustainable supply of critical raw materials. Big congrats to UP Catalyst for being selected by the European Commission as a Strategic Project under the Critical Raw Materials Act (#CRMA). This unlocks coordinated support from the Commission, Member States, and financial institutions — plus a fast-track permitting process. 🚀 Now, UP Catalyst is producing battery-grade graphite and carbon nanotubes directly from CO₂ emissions — but that’s not the story. This isn’t just about being green. The real headline? ✅ It is cost-competitive with fossil-based graphite and carbon nanotubes ✅ It can be produced anywhere, increasing resilience and national independence (And yes — they’re also climate-neutral.) In a world where fossil fuel trade is slowing and raw materials are the new geopolitical chokepoints, climate tech isn’t just about doing good — it’s about building better, more resilient industries. More of this, please. #venturecapital #climatetech

🇪🇺 The European Commission Announces Selected #Strategic Projects under the #CRMA! UP Catalyst battery-grade #Graphite, produced directly from #CO2 emissions, was selected as a Strategic Project under the CRMA — making it the only project from #Estonia to be chosen by the Commission. We are excited to contribute to the EU's targets for critical raw material battery-grade graphite—and especially excited to do so in a #sustainable way! Our battery-grade graphite is: ✔️ Cost-competitive with fossil-based graphite ✔️ Climate-neutral ✔️ High-purity About CRMA: The European Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) designates strategic projects to increase EU capacity to extract, process and recycle strategic raw materials and diversify EU supplies from third countries. Strategic projects make a meaningful contribution to the security of the Union’s supply of strategic raw materials. They are or will become technically feasible within a reasonable timeframe, showing expected production volumes, and implemented sustainably with a sufficient estimated confidence level. #CRMA #graphite #CCU #CCUS

A royal visit with a powerful message! #Estonia had the extraordinary honour of welcoming His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales – a historic first visit, shining a spotlight on Estonia’s thriving clean technology scene. With his well-known commitment to environmental innovation and clean energy, it was a true privilege for Rait Maasikas and Teele Niidas to introduce UP Catalyst’s CO₂ utilisation technology. The Prince of Wales is holding a piece of carbon material made from CO₂ gas – a high-quality and energy-efficient product that could be key to Europe’s critical raw material independence. He expressed strong interest in the solution and highlighted the importance of such innovations in building resilience within the EU and UK supply chains. We also had the opportunity to showcase our molten salt electrolysis technology and the mock-up of our Generation 3 reactor, which will begin live production later this year. A huge thank you for including us Kädi Ristkok, Merily Müürsepp, Estonian Cleantech Association and the British Embassy in Tallinn. It was an honour to fly the Estonian cleantech flag high alongside Sunly, Roofit.Solar and SKYCORP Technologies.

UP Catalyst has been selected as one of the six nominees for the innovation award "Best CO₂ Utilisation 2025"! Award is co-organised by CO2 Value Europe and nova-Institut GmbH and sponsored by YNCORIS GmbH & Co. KG. UP Catalyst's CTO, Dr. Sebastian Pohlmann, will present our solution for turning captured CO₂ emissions into climate-neutral, high-purity carbon #nanomaterials and #graphite at the event in Cologne, Germany. #CCUS #CCU #EVs