Climate Tech and Smart Cities

Imagine the following scenario. The year is 2050. Our world is clean and thriving thanks to decisions made decades ago, based on developing innovative technologies, as part of an industry dedicated to reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and other pollutants.

This concept, advocating synergy between different industries and combining a circular economy with the pursuit of a sustainable environment, is at the core of Airovation Technologies values. Airovation is an Israeli startup aspiring to lead a breakthrough in the struggle against the climate crisis.

The company was founded seven years ago by Lt. Col. (Ret.) Marat Maayan, one of the founders of the Yahalom unit. For 27 years, Maayan led team establishment and development processes in the IDF and provided solutions for complex needs. Decades of operational activity under conditions of uncertainty, working with engineers in defense industries and scientists in various research institutes in Israel, provided the perfect school for handling the complex challenge of technological entrepreneurship and the climate crisis. After his discharge from the IDF, Maayan focused on public safety, specifically, developing unique technology to convert smoke into clean air.

"Past experience shows that many people suffocated because of oxygen deficiency and high concentrations of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide originating from fires in buildings or enclosed spaces. Airovation Technologies aims to use technology to address this chaotic situation. Like the safe room we all know, which is designed to protect us from blasts and shrapnel, we thought to create a kind of fire-protected safe room, a space where one can breathe properly," explains Maayan.

In 2017, the company achieved its first success in the field and demonstrated the technology developed after a two-year research program, together with Prof. Yoel Sasson from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The technology has the ability to capture carbon dioxide and additional molecules present in the air into a solid mineral structure, thanks to a chemical process that ultimately produces clean, breathable air. This success also led to the development of systems for treating carbon dioxide in routine situations to improve people's alertness and sleep.

Broad industry demand
The company began to develop partnerships in South Korea and Japan at the same time as leading corporations around the world set goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, with an emphasis onCO2. This trend led to the reorganization of the company and the transfer of enclosed space air purification activities to a separate company. Airovation Technologies focused on capturing carbon dioxide from smokestacks in heavy industry. This move required additional technological development, which was completed under the leadership of Dr. Zvi Elgat, partner and CTO of the company. The solution developed by the company connects to the smokestacks of fertilizer and energy producers and converts carbon dioxide into three carbon-reduced products: limestone (calcium carbonate), ammonium sulfate, and sulfuric acid. The efficiency of the process was proven in an internal pilot conducted in collaboration with strategic partners from Israel and Japan. The resulting low-carbon products serve various industries, including concrete, plastic, paper, and metal, while enabling a circular economy in the fertilizer industry.

What is the business model the technology will be based on?
"It was clear to us that we were entering a long-term collaborative process with players in the energy and chemicals fields, so we decided to develop technology that isn't based exclusively on environmental solutions and carbon credit trading revenues."

"The business model is based on deploying the technology at facilities that will be established by our strategic partners and will serve manufacturers for decades. The facilities will support the production of clean hydrogen from carbon dioxide produced from natural gas, and the production of reduced-carbon raw materials required by industry. The model is supported by regulatory incentives that accelerate the adoption of technology and products along the value chain."

Maayan reports that the Israeli gas company NewMed Energy recently announced its investment in Airovation. The technology will enable converting the current hydrogen production process, based on natural gas and involving high CO2 emissions, into a clean and profitable process. "In addition, we plan to expand collaborations with authorities in the field of electricity to convert the power infrastructure to use clean hydrogen as an alternative to polluting fuels and coal. This represents a significant opportunity not only in Israel but in many markets worldwide, including Europe, East Asia, North America, and other regions. These collaborations stem from the urgent need to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions in response to the climate crisis."

What is the current status of the startup?
"In the last five years, after the initial R&D phase, we expanded operations overseas, mainly in South Korea and Japan. We plan to establish an initial demonstration plant in Israel at Mishor Rotem, in collaboration with ICL, expected to be built in the coming year. This facility received support and a grant from the Innovation Authority and the Ministry of Environmental Protection. Construction of another plant will begin in collaboration with TCE (a subsidiary of Toyota) in Nagoya, Japan, with Japanese funding. The goal of these facilities is to capture and 'treat' thousands of tons of carbon dioxide as an initial stage toward implementing our technology at facilities that will capture hundreds of thousands and millions of tons of carbon dioxide in the future. Recently, I participated in the official state delegation to the climate conference in Baku. There we had the privilege to present the solution enabling clean energy production to provide an environmental solution for industry."

Collaboration with global players
Airovation Technologies has raised about $18 million to date, including support from the Innovation Authority for the facility that will begin operating in the Mishor Rotem industrial area. Despite the difficulties of the war, limited availability of the management team, and the withdrawal of some investors, Airovation overcame these obstacles and is now in the middle of another fundraising round as part of the growth process of the company.

How much has the war affected you?
"There's no question the past year has been challenging for all of us. We halted the fundraising round and many connections we had cultivated overseas were frozen because of the situation. Some of them stopped cooperating. I'm glad that despite periods of reserve duty of some team members and their limited availability, we managed to overcome many obstacles, continue to recruit new partners, and maintain connections that will enable us to move forward. Our mission will be to continue serving heavy industries while developing broad environmental and economic solutions that will have a global impact."

In collaboration with Airovation Technologies

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