Estonian nanotech UP Catalyst secures €1.5M to address key challenges in carbon manufacturing

Tallinn-based nanotech company UP Catalyst has secured €1.5 million to advance production of carbon materials for batteries. EAS-Enterprise Estonia provided the funding for the 2-year project.

• Founded in 2019, UP Catalyst is a green technology startup, which focuses on turning the greenhouse CO2 gas into valuable carbon nanomaterials and graphite. The team’s top goal is to revolutionize the global electric car battery industry by increasing the battery properties like energy density, charge rate, and lifetime through sustainable products.
• However, the challenge of producing these sustainable carbon materials remains. Therefore, the company is constantly improving its methods to offer the best industry practices.

“As raw material suppliers, we are responsible together with battery producers to make batteries greener. Our aim is to produce affordable, green graphite and CNTs that can lead to superior performance,”

Einar Karu, CTO at UP Catalyst, comments.

• EAS-Enterprise Estonia backed the 2-year project, which will optimise and upscale the technology, allowing the production of high-purity graphite & CNTs for batteries.
• The project will begin on October 1, 2023, and will end on September 30, 2025. The next steps will see UP Catalyst establishing its first industrial unit.