Several U.S.-based startups that already have secured multimillion-dollar deals to filter carbon dioxide from the air or seas are among 20 finalists in a $100 million climate competition backed by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk.
The finalists announced Wednesday include direct air capture startup Heirloom and direct ocean capture firm Captura in California as well as Texas’ Vaulted Deep, a biomass burial company. Each has brought in more than $45 million from investors or customers.
Leading contenders also hail from China, India, Kenya, Oman and six other countries where venture capital backing and corporate removal buyers are harder to come by.
The carbon removal competition is run by XPrize, a nonprofit that promotes technological development through contests, with money from the Tesla CEO’s Musk Foundation.
