# Sustaera

> Sustaera is a Durham, North Carolina climate-hardware company developing modular direct air capture equipment. Its current approach combines a nano-structured solid sorbent, ceramic air contactors and integrated electric regeneration, with the goal of removing steam infrastructure and lowering equipment cost. After concluding in 2024 that its first-generation product would not meet market requirements, the company redesigned the system and now plans to sell equipment to carbon-removal project developers rather than own plants itself.

- **Founded:** 2021
- **Headquarters:** Durham, United States
- **Founders:** Cory Sanderson (Co-Founder and CEO), Ben Gardner (Co-Founder and Senior Advisor, Projects), Shantanu Agarwal (Original Co-Founder and former CEO), Raghubir Gupta (Original Co-Founder and former CTO)
- **Team size:** Approximately 5 employees in the provided company data; the current public team page lists four operating team members plus executives and advisors.
- **Products:** Third-generation direct air capture system, Structured Material Assembly, Carbon removal credits
- **Notable:** Raised a $10 million Series A led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Grantham-backed Neglected Climate Opportunities in 2021., Won a $1 million XPRIZE Carbon Removal Milestone Award in 2022., Was named among the XPRIZE Carbon Removal Top 100 in 2024.

## Products & services

- **Third-generation direct air capture system** — A modular equipment platform using nano-structured solid sorbent on ceramic contactors with integrated electric heating, designed to avoid steam infrastructure and sell to project developers.
- **Structured Material Assembly** — A low-pressure-drop ceramic substrate carrying solid sorbent and an integrated selective heating mechanism for cyclic CO2 adsorption and regeneration.
- **Carbon removal credits** — Early commercial model based on selling durable removal through voluntary-market buyers including Stripe and Shopify; the current strategy emphasizes equipment sales.

## Achievements

- Raised a $10 million Series A led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Grantham-backed Neglected Climate Opportunities in 2021.
- Won a $1 million XPRIZE Carbon Removal Milestone Award in 2022.
- Was named among the XPRIZE Carbon Removal Top 100 in 2024.
- Secured early carbon-removal purchases or agreements with Stripe and Shopify.
- Built a fast-cycling sorption array capable of averaging about 30 commercially relevant cycles per day.
- Filed seven patents according to a 2026 fundraising profile.
- Signed a 2024 MOU with Deep Sky to explore a 1,000-to-5,000-tonne-per-year deployment in Canada.

## Latest updates

- **2024-04** — Reported new Research Triangle Park lab capabilities and a fast-cycling sorption array designed to mimic commercial conditions.
- **2024-05** — Signed an MOU with Deep Sky to explore Canadian deployment at a 1,000-to-5,000-tonne-per-year facility.
- **2024** — Concluded its first-generation product was not competitive enough and pivoted to a nano-structured third-generation design.
- **2026** — Disclosed a Series A extension raise, commercial relationships with Deep Sky and Return Carbon, a planned Q4 2026 validation unit and a Q2 2027 first-revenue target.

## Links

- Website: https://www.sustaera.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sustaera
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/sustaera

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/sustaera
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-20