Bill Gates-Backed Climate Solutions Fund Invests $40 Million in Canadian Carbon Removal Startup Deep Sky
Carbon removal project developer Deep Sky announced that it has secured a USD $40 million grant commitment from Breakthrough Energy Catalyst, a climate solutions-focused initiative founded by Bill Gates, with proceeds aimed at supporting the construction of the company’s first Direct Air Capture Facility, Deep Sky Alpha.
Founded in 2022, Montreal-based Deep Sky was established as a technology-agnostic carbon removal project developer, with projects underway in Canada utilizing methodologies from Direct Air Capture (DAC) to Ocean carbon capture, and a goal to remove gigatons of carbon from the atmosphere and permanently store it underground.
Based in Alberta, the Deep Sky Alpha project will deploy multiple DAC technologies, which will be tested and optimized by the company prior to being deployed at commercial scale. The renewable energy-powered facility is anticipated to be operational in Spring 2025, using 10 technologies to capture CO2, which will be injected 2 km underground for permanent storage.
Deep Sky said that the funds from the grant will be allocated to the construction of Deep Sky Alpha and its associated research and testing of DAC technologies, as part of the company’s initiative to lower the cost of large-scale commercial carbon removal.
Damien Steel, Deep Sky CEO, said:
“Securing support from Breakthrough Energy Catalyst marks another milestone for our company and for the DAC industry. The financial backing from Breakthrough Energy Catalyst will play a crucial role in helping Deep Sky realize its ambitious goals. However, the partnership with Breakthrough Energy Catalyst and their expertise into what it takes to build projects at scale has already been transformative to Deep Sky.”
Breakthrough Energy Catalyst was founded in mid-2021, bringing together businesses, governments, philanthropies and individuals in a public-private partnership network aimed at investing in and scaling new ‘climate-smart’ technologies that will enable the achievement of net zero by 2050. Initial technology focus areas for Catalyst include direct air capture, green hydrogen, long-duration energy storage, and sustainable aviation fuel. Catalyst forms part of Breakthrough Energy, established by Gates and other private investors in 2015, to support the development of net zero-focused technologies.
The Catalyst program prioritizes projects with high-impact and scalable climate tech that need additional capital to reach commercial scale. The new grant marks Catalyst’s first-ever investment in both a Canadian and Direct Air Capture (DAC) project. Canada was highlighted as a strategic location for the Deep Sky Alpha project, given the abundance of resources including hydroelectric power, wind power potential, and a rich geological makeup.
Mario Fernandez, Head of Breakthrough Energy Catalyst, said:
“We’re proud to support Deep Sky Alpha because it offers a unique opportunity to demonstrate several direct air capture technologies and gain a deeper understanding of their potential to lower costs and scale – all while delivering permanent carbon removal. The world will ultimately need many approaches to carbon removal at prices far lower than is achievable today, but Deep Sky’s platform will enable and accelerate the kind of real-world innovation that could make affordable DAC achievable.”