UP Catalyst secures €18M from EIB to scale sustainable graphite production

Estonian CleanTech startup UP Catalyst has secured €18M in financing from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to scale up its innovative carbon materials production, the company announced.

The EIB loan will help UP Catalyst expand its molten salt electrolysis technology, which transforms CO₂ emissions into high-performance carbon materials for electric vehicle batteries, defence applications, paints, coatings, polymers, and concrete.

The company aims to reach production capacity of 270 tonnes of carbon nanotubes and 1,350 tonnes of climate-neutral graphite annually. To put it into perspective, this is enough graphite to support over 20,000 electric vehicles annually.

The new funding builds upon UP Catalyst’s successful seed extension round, which closed in 2024. Investors, including Warsaw Equity Group and Estonia’s SmartCap, have supported the scale-up, helping it establish its first-of-a-kind industrial production unit adjacent to the Tallinn waste incineration plant.

“By 2030, the EU will require 3 million tons of carbon materials for electric vehicle batteries. Despite having the potential to utilize 11 million tons of CO₂ through existing technology, the EU currently invests heavily in underground storage and imports fossil-based materials from China,” said Dr. Gary Urb, CEO of UP Catalyst, at the time. “Our technology offers Europe a sustainable avenue for reducing emissions and import dependence, scaling rapidly towards the use of at least 200 thousand tons of CO₂ annually by 2030.”

The company showcased its progress at an official event at its production facility, demonstrating live graphite production using its new Generation 3 Alpha reactor. The event was attended by Thomas Östros, EIB Vice-President; Maive Rute, Deputy Director-General at the European Commission; and Andres Sutt, Estonia’s Minister of Energy and Environment.

The EIB loan also follows UP Catalyst’s recent recognition as a Strategic Project Partner under the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act in March. This initiative is a crucial step in the EU’s strategy to ensure European extraction, processing, and recycling of strategic raw materials will meet 10%, 40%, and 25% of EU demand by 2030, respectively.

Currently, China dominates most of this supply chain. But the Estonian DeepTech boom, paired with the EU’s financial firepower, is offering a sustainable and shock-free alternative.

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