Arca

Cover Block

Attribute	Value
Name	Arca
Tagline	Uses alkaline industrial waste and mine tailings to remove CO₂ from the atmosphere and transform it into rock.
Headquarters	Vancouver, Canada
Founded	2021
Stage	Seed
Business Model	B2B
Industry	Cleantech / Climatetech
Technology	Other
Geography	North America
Growth Profile	Venture Scale
Founding Team	Co-Founders (3+)
Funding Label	Undisclosed (total disclosed ~$5,000,000)

Links

• Website: https://arcaclimate.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/arca.

Summary and Signal

Arca is a Vancouver-based startup that has secured a long-term offtake agreement with Microsoft while preparing a Series A round. The company accelerates the natural process of carbon mineralization, using alkaline waste from mining and industrial sites to permanently sequester atmospheric CO₂ as rock, a method that has been ISO-validated and is currently deployed [XPRIZE Foundation, c. 2023-2024]. Founded in 2021, the company emerged from academic research at the University of British Columbia, where co-founder and chief scientist Dr. Greg Dipple spent decades studying the carbon storage potential of mine tailings [UBC Earth & Ocean Sciences, 2023].

The founding team combines deep scientific expertise with commercial experience. CEO Paul Needham previously co-founded and led Simpa Networks, a pay-as-you-go solar company in India that was acquired by ENGIE in 2018 [EventBrowse.com, retrieved 2026]. This operational background is paired with Dipple's foundational research. The business model is B2B, targeting large mining and metals companies as partners to provide carbon removal services [arcaclimate.com, retrieved 2024].

Public funding records are limited to an undisclosed seed round in 2023, with total disclosed capital estimated at approximately $5 million [Axios Pro, Oct 2025]. The company's most significant commercial milestone to date is a decade-long offtake agreement with Microsoft to deliver nearly 300,000 tonnes of durable carbon removal [cantechletter.com, retrieved 2026]. Over the next 12-18 months, investors should monitor the close and terms of the planned Series A, the announcement of additional mining partners beyond the disclosed work with Talon Metals, and the scaling of delivery against the Microsoft contract.

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Core claims are confirmed by company and third-party sources, but specific financial metrics and some partnership details remain unverified.

Taxonomy Snapshot

Axis	Classification
Stage	Seed
Business Model	B2B
Industry / Vertical	Cleantech / Climatetech
Technology Type	Other
Geography	North America
Growth Profile	Venture Scale
Founding Team	Co-Founders (3+)
Funding	Undisclosed (total disclosed ~$5,000,000)

Company Overview

Arca was founded in Vancouver, Canada, in 2021 as a commercial vehicle for a long-running academic research program. The company's genesis is tied directly to the work of its co-founder and chief scientist, Dr. Greg Dipple, a professor at the University of British Columbia who has studied carbon mineralization in mine waste for decades [UBC Earth & Ocean Sciences, 2023]. The founding team combined this deep technical expertise with commercial experience, bringing on Paul Needham, previously a co-founder of the pay-as-you-go solar company Simpa Networks, as CEO [Axios Pro, Oct 2025]. A third co-founder, Lydia Firth, joined in an operational leadership role [Perplexity Sonar Pro Brief, retrieved 2024].

By 2023, Arca's approach to accelerating carbon mineralization in alkaline waste had achieved ISO validation [XPRIZE Foundation, c. 2023-2024]. The same year, the company closed an initial seed financing round [Crunchbase, retrieved 2024]. Arca stated its ISO-validated process had been deployed and was actively removing carbon dioxide [XPRIZE Foundation, c. 2023-2024].

In 2026, Arca announced a major offtake agreement with Microsoft to deliver nearly 300,000 tonnes of durable carbon removal over the next decade [cantechletter.com, retrieved 2026]. The company also publicized a partnership with Talon Metals, which is developing a nickel resource in a joint venture with Rio Tinto [cpecn.com, retrieved 2026]. As of late 2025, the company was preparing to open a Series A funding round [Axios Pro, Oct 2025].

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Founding details and recent milestones are confirmed by multiple sources, but specific details of the seed round remain uncorroborated in public filings or major news announcements.

The Product and the Stack

Arca's technology accelerates a natural geochemical process, carbon mineralization, within the alkaline waste streams produced by mining and certain industrial operations [arcaclimate.com, retrieved 2024]. The company's system integrates with existing mine sites, treating tailings as a reactive substrate for permanently sequestering atmospheric CO₂ [XPRIZE Foundation, c. 2023-2024]. The output is solid carbonate rock, a form of permanent geological storage [XPRIZE Foundation, c. 2023-2024].

Commercial traction is evidenced through announced partnerships and offtake agreements. Arca is working with Talon Metals, which is developing a nickel resource in a joint venture with Rio Tinto [cpecn.com, retrieved 2026]. The company has secured a decade-long agreement with Microsoft to deliver nearly 300,000 tonnes of carbon removal [cantechletter.com, retrieved 2026].

Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Core product claims are confirmed by company website and third-party foundation profiles; partnership and offtake details are reported by industry press.

The Market They Are Entering

According to a 2023 report from McKinsey & Company, the annual demand for durable CDR could reach 0.4 to 1.7 gigatonnes of CO₂ by 2030, representing a market value of $6 billion to $40 billion annually [McKinsey & Company, 2023]. The firm projects that by 2050, demand could scale to 4 to 9 gigatonnes per year.

Metric	Value
Projected Annual CDR Demand (McKinsey, 2030)	0.4 Gt CO₂
Projected Annual CDR Demand (McKinsey, 2030)	1.7 Gt CO₂
Projected Annual CDR Demand (McKinsey, 2050)	4 Gt CO₂
Projected Annual CDR Demand (McKinsey, 2050)	9 Gt CO₂

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Market sizing is drawn from a single, credible third-party report (McKinsey) and is used as an analogous proxy.

The Competitive Field

Company	Positioning	Stage / Funding	Notable Differentiator	Source
Arca	Uses alkaline industrial waste and mine tailings for in-situ carbon mineralization at active/historical mine sites.	Seed stage; total disclosed funding ~$5M.	Integrates directly with mining operations, leveraging waste streams with no greenfield land footprint.	[arcaclimate.com, retrieved 2024]
Heirloom	Uses calcium oxide from limestone to capture CO₂ from air, then mineralizes it in partnership with concrete or storage sites.	Later stage; raised at least $53M in a 2021 Series A.	Focus on direct air capture (DAC) with a separate mineralization step, targeting high-purity CO₂ streams.	[Crunchbase, 2021]
44.01	Injects CO₂ into peridotite formations for permanent subsurface mineralization.	Venture stage; raised a $37M Series A in 2023.	Targets specific subsurface geology (peridotite) for mineralization, independent of industrial waste streams.	[Crunchbase, 2023]

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Competitor funding and positioning are drawn from public databases and company materials, but detailed commercial terms and head-to-head project wins are not publicly available.

Opportunity

Arca’s core technical process is an acceleration of a natural geochemical reaction, already ISO-validated and deployed in the field [XPRIZE Foundation, c. 2023-2024]. The recent offtake agreement with Microsoft for nearly 300,000 tonnes of removal over a decade demonstrates that major corporate buyers see durable, geologically-stored carbon as a credible and valuable asset [cantechletter.com, retrieved 2026].

Scenario	What happens	Catalyst	Why it's plausible
The Nickel Standard	Arca’s process becomes a mandated part of developing new critical mineral mines, particularly for nickel used in EV batteries.	A successful, publicized partnership with a major producer like Talon Metals (which is in a joint venture with Rio Tinto) establishes a replicable blueprint [cpecn.com, retrieved 2026].	Battery supply chains are under scrutiny for both sourcing and emissions; offering carbon-negative nickel could command a premium and ease permitting.
The Legacy Cleanup Model	The company pivots to focus on monetizing historical mine tailings, creating a large-scale carbon removal service without needing active mining partners.	Securing a dedicated funding stream (e.g., via government remediation grants or dedicated carbon credit methodologies) for legacy site projects.	The volume of historical waste is vast and represents a pure removal opportunity; the partnership with Talon Metals also involves historical tailings [cpecn.com, retrieved 2026].
The Tech-Stack Integration	Arca’s mineralization process is licensed as a core component of other carbon removal companies’ storage solutions, becoming a B2B technology provider.	A strategic investment or partnership from a major carbon removal platform seeking guaranteed, permanent storage capacity.	The company’s ISO-validated, deployed process is a tangible asset; the capital-light, partnership-based model is amenable to licensing [arcaclimate.com, retrieved 2024].

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- The core opportunity thesis is supported by public company claims, a cited offtake agreement, and partnership announcements.

Sources

1. [arcaclimate.com, retrieved 2024] Industrial-scale carbon removal - Arca Climate | https://arcaclimate.com/what-we-do/
2. [XPRIZE Foundation, c. 2023-2024] Arca (Carbon Removal Team profile) | https://www.xprize.org/people/arca
3. [UBC Earth & Ocean Sciences, 2023] UBC CO₂ Mineralization Group | https://www.eoas.ubc.ca/research/co2-mineralization
4. [Axios Pro, Oct 2025] Mining carbon removal startup Arca readies Series A raise | https://www.axios.com/pro/climate-deals/2025/10/29/arca-series-a-microsoft
5. [EventBrowse.com, retrieved 2026] ENGIE acquires Simpa Networks | https://eventbrowse.com/event/engie-acquires-simpa-networks-2018-11-01
6. [cantechletter.com, retrieved 2026] Microsoft inks major carbon removal deal with Canada's Arca | https://www.cantechletter.com/2026/02/microsoft-inks-major-carbon-removal-deal-with-canadas-arca/
7. [cpecn.com, retrieved 2026] Talon Metals partners with Arca for carbon-negative nickel | https://cpecn.com/talon-metals-partners-with-arca-for-carbon-negative-nickel/
8. [Crunchbase, retrieved 2024] Arca Climate Technologies, Inc. - Crunchbase Company Profile & Funding | https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/carbin-minerals
9. [McKinsey & Company, 2023] The carbon dioxide removal market | https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/sustainability/our-insights/the-carbon-dioxide-removal-market
10. [Crunchbase, 2021] Heirloom raises $53M Series A | https://www.crunchbase.com/funding_round/heirloom-series-a--b3f8c5c0
11. [Crunchbase, 2023] 44.01 raises $37M Series A | https://www.crunchbase.com/funding_round/4401-series-a--f0c7e1b2