# Ethan Cohen-Cole

> Ethan Cohen-Cole is the CEO and Co-Founder of Capture6, a Berkeley-based climate technology Public Benefit Corporation that has cracked one of cleantech's most stubborn puzzles: making carbon removal pay for itself. By integrating direct air capture with desalination brine management, Capture6 turns the costly waste stream of water treatment into a revenue engine - producing fresh water, green chemicals, and permanent CO2 sequestration simultaneously. Before pivoting to climate tech, Cohen-Cole spent 25+ years as a PhD economist, Federal Reserve bank regulator, and finance professor, giving him an unusually rigorous lens on the economics of decarbonization. Capture6 raised a $27.5M Series A in March 2025, backed by Hyundai's ZER01NE Ventures and Tetrad Corporation, bringing total funding to nearly $49M.

- **Role:** CEO & Co-Founder at Capture6
- **Organizations:** Capture6, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Vega Economics, University of Maryland Center for Financial Policy, Bank for International Settlements (Advisory)
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** BA in History, Harvard University, MPA in Public Policy, Princeton University, MA in Economics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, PhD in Economics, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- **Known for:** Co-founded Capture6 in 2021 and raised nearly $49M in total funding by 2025, Named lead inventor on Capture6's core patent for integrated carbon capture and desalination brine management, Won Global Prize Innovation in Desalination (GPID) 2025 - selected from 540 applications across 56 countries

## Career timeline

- **1995-1999** — Early career in public policy and financial services
- **2001-2006** — PhD in Economics, University of Wisconsin-Madison; published research on consumer credit, banking, and network analysis
- **2006-2018** — Financial economist at Federal Reserve Bank of Boston; led quantitative reviews of large bank risk modeling under Basel II; designated system quantitative expert on risk management
- **2008** — Published 'Is obesity contagious? Social networks vs. environmental factors' in Journal of Health Economics - one of his most-cited papers
- **2011** — Published 'Credit Card Redlining' in Review of Economics and Statistics
- **2014-2021** — Senior Advisor and Managing Director at Vega Economics, Berkeley - financial and economic analysis for legal disputes and international organizations
- **2018** — Steering committee, Center for Financial Policy, University of Maryland
- **2021** — Co-founded Capture6; named lead inventor on core patent for integrated carbon capture and water recovery system
- **2023** — Announced global collaboration with Veolia Water Technologies & Solutions
- **2024** — Selected for XPRIZE Water Scarcity Competition ($119M); partnered with Rothschild & Co for long-term carbon removal; selected for Ocean Visions Launchpad Program; Frontier pre-purchase of 1,000 tons for Shopify and Stripe
- **2025-03** — Closed $27.5M Series A led by Tetrad Corporation with Hyundai ZER01NE Ventures; Project Monarch in Palmdale advances to Phase 2
- **2025** — Won Global Prize Innovation in Desalination (GPID) at IDWS conference in Jeddah - among 540 applicants from 56 countries; featured on CNBC

## Achievements

- Co-founded Capture6 in 2021 and raised nearly $49M in total funding by 2025
- Named lead inventor on Capture6's core patent for integrated carbon capture and desalination brine management
- Won Global Prize Innovation in Desalination (GPID) 2025 - selected from 540 applications across 56 countries
- Selected as XPRIZE Water Scarcity Competition Qualified Team ($119M prize competition)
- Secured $8M+ from California Energy Commission - largest award in that funding round
- Brokered global collaboration with Veolia Water Technologies & Solutions across five continents
- Published research cited by 2,534 scholars across economics, finance, and public policy
- Led quantitative reviews of large bank risk models at Federal Reserve; designated system expert on Basel II
- Advisor to BIS on drafting Basel I and II; advisor to three central banks on systemic risk
- Secured Frontier carbon removal pre-purchases from Shopify and Stripe
- Project Monarch (Palmdale, CA) designed to remove 25,000 tons CO2/year while saving 40% in water district costs
- Expanded Capture6 project pipeline to California, Western Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, and the Middle East

## Latest updates

- **2025-06** — Featured on CNBC for Capture6's integrated carbon removal and water cleaning approach
- **2025-03** — Closed $27.5M Series A led by Tetrad Corporation; co-investors include Hyundai's ZER01NE Ventures, Energy Capital Ventures, and Elemental Impact
- **2025** — Won Global Prize Innovation in Desalination at IDWS 2025 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
- **2025** — Project Monarch in Palmdale, CA advances to Phase 2 with project-level financing from RSF | Regenerative Social Finance
- **2024** — Partnership with Rothschild & Co for long-term carbon removal announced
- **2024** — Global collaboration agreement signed with Veolia Water Technologies & Solutions
- **2024** — Selected for XPRIZE Water Scarcity Competition as Qualified Team

## Links

- Website: https://capture6.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/ecohencole
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/_Capture6

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/ethan-cohen-cole
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-14