How SeaO₂ Secured Customers and €2M in Funding Before Product Launch
When Ruben Brands our Co-Founder & CEO left his consulting career, it wasn’t for the startup glamour, it was because the climate clock is ticking. What began as a chance encounter with a Delft University PhD thesis on Direct Ocean Capture with co-founders Dr. David Vermaas & Dr. Rose Sharifian has become SeaO₂, a fast-growing Dutch climate tech startup tackling CO₂ removal at ocean scale.
In just a few years, SeaO₂ has:
Secured €2M in seed funding and €240K in pre-sales — before launching a commercial product.
Partnered with major names like Klarna and Transavia Ventures.
Grown to a 17-person team of scientists, engineers, and commercial experts.
Proved it can built tech that removes CO₂ from seawater, enabling both negative emissions and the creation of green fuels for hard-to-electrify industries.
The journey hasn’t been easy; from navigating university spin-out challenges to raising funds without a live product: but urgency and action have defined every step.
SeaO₂ is now aiming for a €20M Series A by 2026 to take DOC from pilot projects to industrial deployment, with the vision of becoming a backbone player in the global carbon economy. All of this and more is captured in an inspiring founder story published by GrowthMentor who recently identified SeaO₂ as one of Amsterdam’s fastest growing startups. You can read the full article here.
