Climeworks’ TOP 100 keynote: ‘Stick to your purpose, and eventually, you will achieve your vision’
14.10.2020
A clear vision and perseverance can remove obstacles and—in Climeworks’ case—CO2. Founded in 2009, the cleantech startup looks back at a decade in which it proved all critics wrong and shattered the fundraising record for investments in direct air capture. Christoph Gebald and Jan Wurzbacher, the two Climeworks founders, are here to tell us more about their entrepreneurial journey and their innovative subscription model that allows people to remove CO2 from the atmosphere to contribute to reversing climate change.
Christoph Gebald and Jan Wurzbacher founded Climeworks in 2009. The ETH Zurich spin-off builds plants that take CO2 from the air and put it underground permanently—thus, empowering people to reduce CO2 in the atmosphere and contributing to reversing climate change. When the two engineers set out to provide a technology solution to remove CO2 from the air, “fundraising was a nightmare,” and the scientific community and the media were skeptical, to say the least.
Thanks to the support of investors who believed in the Climeworks vision, combined with Gebald and Wurzbacher’s courage to tweak Climeworks’ strategy, business model, and technology, the Zurich-based startup continued to grow—and recently raised CHF 100 million, the largest ever investment into direct air capture. The Climeworks founders show that a clear vision and perseverance can change the world.
In the last ten years, Climeworks was a Venture Kick winner in 2010, a Venture Leader China in 2017, and one of the TOP 100 Swiss startups for four consecutive years (2011-2014), making it to the top 10 in 2014. This year, Gebald was on the TOP 100 stage once again: Watch his TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award 2020 keynote and read Climeworks co-founder Jan Wurzbacher’s interview on their innovative subscription model that provides direct, measurable, and permanent climate action—one kg of CO2 at a time.
To learn more about Climeworks' subscription model and plans for the future, we talked to Climeworks co-founder Jan Wurzbacher.
Jan, Climeworks just closed a record-breaking fundraising round by raising CHF 100 million. What are your next goals?
We are very happy about the trust our investors showed towards our strategy, technology, and team. The funding will be used to further scale and optimize Climeworks’ direct air capture technology and make it accessible to even more stakeholders: people, businesses, and organizations alike. The next step of our scale-up roadmap is a new plant that we are currently building. It will be able to remove 4,000 tons of CO2 per year.
In our last interview, you mentioned that Climeworks’ vision is to inspire 1 billion people to remove carbon dioxide from the air. One way you do this is through subscription models that allow individuals to remove up to 24,000 kg of carbon dioxide from the air per year. How does a Climeworks subscription work?
We remove carbon dioxide from the air with our direct air capture machines. Our partner Carbfix mixes the CO2 with water and pumps it deep underground. Through natural mineralization, carbon dioxide reacts with basalt rock and turns into stone within a few years.
To join this journey towards a climate-positive world, go to our website, and choose the amount of carbon dioxide you want us to remove from the air in your name. After signing up, you will have access to your “Pioneers” dashboard, where you see your removal orders, you are allowed to create a wish for the planet, and you will receive updates about our progress and other important news. We specifically chose the subscription model, as we believe people who have understood our mission and the importance of DAC to keep global heating to safe levels will want to keep taking action—every month, every year.
You have three different subscriptions on your website. Of course, it is best to remove as much carbon as possible, but how do I choose between the subscription models?
We believe in the power of small steps and that every climate-positive action counts. We offer different options for the amount of CO2 you want to have removed from the air, and you can choose them according to your lifestyle and your means. Of course, you can also adjust your subscription any month.
What has been the feedback from subscribers?
We have an active community of pioneers, and we highly appreciate their feedback. So far, their reactions have been great! We recently launched our community page, a platform for our subscribers to share their thoughts.
How do you plan on growing your community?
We are growing our community in several ways. One important approach is to create awareness for carbon dioxide removal solutions, like direct air capture. Many people are not yet aware that it is not enough to just reduce emissions and that, on top of that, humanity needs to remove the excess carbon dioxide that’s already in the air. We provide the information and material on these topics, and our pioneering customers and partners, both businesses and individuals, help to spread the word. Climeworks’ vision is to inspire 1 billion people to remove carbon dioxide from the air. By providing accessible climate action, we strive to empower as many people as possible.
You also offer gift cards. With the holiday season approaching, why is a carbon dioxide removal subscription the gift that keeps on giving?
Although the world is struck by a global pandemic, the urgency of the climate crisis does not subside. Scientists agree: We need many carbon dioxide removal solutions working together to keep global heating to safe levels. Climeworks’ carbon dioxide removal has the smallest land and water usage of all carbon dioxide removal approaches, it is exactly measurable, and CO2 is stored through natural processes, safely and permanently. A Climeworks gift card is the ideal gift, as it gets your loved ones started on their journey to climate positivity and can ignite the spark to reverse climate change.
Thanks to the support of investors who believed in the Climeworks vision, combined with Gebald and Wurzbacher’s courage to tweak Climeworks’ strategy, business model, and technology, the Zurich-based startup continued to grow—and recently raised CHF 100 million, the largest ever investment into direct air capture. The Climeworks founders show that a clear vision and perseverance can change the world.
In the last ten years, Climeworks was a Venture Kick winner in 2010, a Venture Leader China in 2017, and one of the TOP 100 Swiss startups for four consecutive years (2011-2014), making it to the top 10 in 2014. This year, Gebald was on the TOP 100 stage once again: Watch his TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award 2020 keynote and read Climeworks co-founder Jan Wurzbacher’s interview on their innovative subscription model that provides direct, measurable, and permanent climate action—one kg of CO2 at a time.
To learn more about Climeworks' subscription model and plans for the future, we talked to Climeworks co-founder Jan Wurzbacher.
Jan, Climeworks just closed a record-breaking fundraising round by raising CHF 100 million. What are your next goals? We are very happy about the trust our investors showed towards our strategy, technology, and team. The funding will be used to further scale and optimize Climeworks’ direct air capture technology and make it accessible to even more stakeholders: people, businesses, and organizations alike. The next step of our scale-up roadmap is a new plant that we are currently building. It will be able to remove 4,000 tons of CO2 per year.
In our last interview, you mentioned that Climeworks’ vision is to inspire 1 billion people to remove carbon dioxide from the air. One way you do this is through subscription models that allow individuals to remove up to 24,000 kg of carbon dioxide from the air per year. How does a Climeworks subscription work?
We remove carbon dioxide from the air with our direct air capture machines. Our partner Carbfix mixes the CO2 with water and pumps it deep underground. Through natural mineralization, carbon dioxide reacts with basalt rock and turns into stone within a few years.
To join this journey towards a climate-positive world, go to our website, and choose the amount of carbon dioxide you want us to remove from the air in your name. After signing up, you will have access to your “Pioneers” dashboard, where you see your removal orders, you are allowed to create a wish for the planet, and you will receive updates about our progress and other important news. We specifically chose the subscription model, as we believe people who have understood our mission and the importance of DAC to keep global heating to safe levels will want to keep taking action—every month, every year.
You have three different subscriptions on your website. Of course, it is best to remove as much carbon as possible, but how do I choose between the subscription models?
We believe in the power of small steps and that every climate-positive action counts. We offer different options for the amount of CO2 you want to have removed from the air, and you can choose them according to your lifestyle and your means. Of course, you can also adjust your subscription any month.
What has been the feedback from subscribers?
We have an active community of pioneers, and we highly appreciate their feedback. So far, their reactions have been great! We recently launched our community page, a platform for our subscribers to share their thoughts.
How do you plan on growing your community?
We are growing our community in several ways. One important approach is to create awareness for carbon dioxide removal solutions, like direct air capture. Many people are not yet aware that it is not enough to just reduce emissions and that, on top of that, humanity needs to remove the excess carbon dioxide that’s already in the air. We provide the information and material on these topics, and our pioneering customers and partners, both businesses and individuals, help to spread the word. Climeworks’ vision is to inspire 1 billion people to remove carbon dioxide from the air. By providing accessible climate action, we strive to empower as many people as possible.
You also offer gift cards. With the holiday season approaching, why is a carbon dioxide removal subscription the gift that keeps on giving?
Although the world is struck by a global pandemic, the urgency of the climate crisis does not subside. Scientists agree: We need many carbon dioxide removal solutions working together to keep global heating to safe levels. Climeworks’ carbon dioxide removal has the smallest land and water usage of all carbon dioxide removal approaches, it is exactly measurable, and CO2 is stored through natural processes, safely and permanently. A Climeworks gift card is the ideal gift, as it gets your loved ones started on their journey to climate positivity and can ignite the spark to reverse climate change.