Skytree and the EIC Accelerator: Air-Captured CO2 for Greenhouses

Skytree, based in Amsterdam, builds modular direct air capture machines that take CO2 from the air on site, aimed first at greenhouses that enrich their air with CO2 to boost crops and also at drink carbonation, water treatment and synthetic fuels. It was selected in the EIC Accelerator's June 2023 cut-off with blended finance and received an EU grant of €2.48 million for DDAC, a €3.55 million project from January 2024 to December 2025 to take its technology "from TRL 6 to TRL 9", delivering "a validated, certified and commercially ready system", according to CORDIS.

The final report says early results in 2024 showed that its fixed-bed design "would not meet market-relevant energy targets", so Skytree switched to a continuous moving-bed process, built the 400 kg-a-day Stratus Alpha by the third quarter of 2024, had to redesign the heating after resistive electric heating "proved unreliable", and ran multi-day tests through 2025, according to the CORDIS reporting page. It filed 11 patents. Stratus Alpha stayed at Skytree's test site, and "customer-facing validation is shifting to Stratus Beta", a 750 kg-a-day unit for field deployment in Canada from the second quarter of 2026. The report does not mention certification of the system.

Where Skytree Stands Now

In June 2026 Skytree announced its first commercial Stratus system with Lingezegen Energy, planned to capture 7,200 tonnes of CO2 a year for 10 greenhouses across 80 hectares, using as little as 0.9 MWh of electricity per tonne when integrated with low-grade heat, according to Skytree. In September 2026 Dutch greenhouse projects that will deploy Stratus systems won the first SDE++ subsidies for direct air capture, for a combined 23,000 tonnes a year and about €80 million of subsidies, according to Skytree. Skytree is preparing a public crowdfunding campaign on Republic Europe, according to its investor page.

The Technology: A Moving Bed of Sorbent

Dutch greenhouses use about 2.6 million tonnes of CO2 a year, much of it captured from gas-fired heating that is being phased out, and Wageningen University projects a shortfall of 0.8 to 1.4 million tonnes of sustainable CO2 by 2031, Skytree says. Its Stratus system moves a polystyrene-based sorbent continuously between an adsorption section, where it takes up CO2 from air, and a vacuum desorption section, where heat releases it, instead of cycling a fixed bed. The company says this cuts energy use and extends sorbent life.

What the EIC Award Promised, and What the Record Shows

The award promised a validated, certified, commercially ready system at TRL9 by the end of 2025. Skytree changed its core technology, built and tested a larger unit than planned, and moved into commercial projects in 2026. But in-field validation was shifted to a new unit deployed after the project ended, CO2 purity targets were still being worked on, and no system certification is reported. The commercial plants announced in 2026 are planned, not yet running.

1. Scaled capture unitDelivered400 kg a day, 2024.
2. In-field validationMovedStratus Beta, Canada, 2026.
3. System certificationUnverifiedNot reported.
4. Commercial ordersDeliveredLingezegen, SDE++ projects.

The Money

The EU covered 70% of the project. Whether the EIC Fund invested under the blended award has not been announced. Skytree's move to public crowdfunding in 2026 shows it is still raising growth capital. Its financial statements were not reviewed for this article.

What Cannot Be Checked

Why Europe Should Care

Dutch greenhouse horticulture depends on CO2 supplies that are disappearing as gas heating is phased out and industrial CO2 goes to storage, Skytree says. Local air capture would keep that industry running without fossil CO2. Skytree has turned a struggling first design into a product with public subsidy behind its first customers; the plants still have to prove themselves.

The Verdict

Skytree and the EIC have not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on public records and published statements, linked throughout.