Yama Carbon

Cover Block

Company Name	Yama Carbon
Tagline	Developing direct air capture technology using a hybrid electrochemical process for low energy CO2 removal.
Headquarters	Paris, France
Founded	2023
Stage	Seed
Business Model	B2B
Industry	Cleantech / Climatetech
Technology	Hardware
Geography	Western Europe
Growth Profile	Venture Scale
Founding Team	Solo Founder
Funding Label	$3M Seed (total disclosed ~$3,000,000) [Crunchbase, July 2024]

Links

• Website: https://yamacarbon.com

Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Confirmed by company website and multiple external sources.

Executive Summary

Yama Carbon is a Paris-based direct air capture (DAC) startup engineering a hybrid electrochemical process designed for low energy consumption and rapid deployment [Simpliflying Green, Feb 2024]. Founded in 2023 by Yama Saraj, the company aims to bring a diversity of perspective to the French climatetech ecosystem [Startups Without Borders, retrieved 2024]. Its core technology repurposes electrodialysis hardware from water treatment, using pH changes and low-grade heat to capture and release CO₂ [Simpliflying Green, Feb 2024]. The company has secured a reported $3 million in seed funding and operates a B2B model targeting industrial emitters and corporate buyers of carbon removal credits [Crunchbase, July 2024]. Key milestones include the progression along its roadmap, which calls for a 365-tonne demonstration plant, followed by a 5,000-tonne facility [Simpliflying Green, Feb 2024].

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Core technology claims are corroborated by industry profiles, but funding details and team composition lack multiple independent sources.

Taxonomy Snapshot

Axis	Classification
Stage	Seed
Business Model	B2B
Industry / Vertical	Cleantech / Climatetech
Technology Type	Hardware
Geography	Western Europe
Growth Profile	Venture Scale
Founding Team	Solo Founder
Funding	$3M Seed (total disclosed ~$3,000,000)

How the Company Got Here

Yama Carbon is a Paris-based direct air capture (DAC) hardware startup founded in 2023 by Yama Saraj [Crunchbase, retrieved 2024]. The company's origin story is tied to its founder's personal background and a pragmatic approach to climate technology. Saraj, born in Afghanistan and raised in the Netherlands, is an entrepreneur and social activist [Startups Without Borders, retrieved 2024] [Life Line, retrieved 2026]. The company's public narrative frames its mission as a technical, social, and economic challenge [Yama Saraj YouTube, retrieved 2026].

Key operational milestones are centered on technology development and scaling. The company reported scaling its system 56x in one year, moving from a lab setup to establishing the first-ever French DAC pilot plant [Yama Carbon, retrieved 2024]. Its participation in climate technology accelerators, including Third Derivative and Remove, provides external validation and structured support for its development roadmap [Third Derivative, retrieved 2024].

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Company founding and founder background confirmed by multiple sources; accelerator participation and pilot plant claim are company-sourced.

Product and Technology

Yama Carbon's core innovation is a direct air capture system that prioritizes industrial manufacturability over novel chemistry. The technology is a hybrid electrochemical process that captures CO₂ from ambient air using pH changes and low-grade heat [Simpliflying Green, Feb 2024]. The system's architecture is built around electrodialysis, a technique repurposed from established water treatment and desalination industries [Simpliflying Green, Feb 2024]. This choice allows the company to source mass-manufactured components and rely on familiar industrial processes [Simpliflying Green, Feb 2024].

According to accelerator Third Derivative, pairing high-efficiency air source heat pumps with the electrochemical DAC process decreases energy consumption by 30% and capital intensity by 10% compared to standalone electrochemical technologies [Third Derivative, retrieved 2026]. Other cited design features include using low-temperature heat pumps and ambient heat to achieve desorption at temperatures below 100°C, and integrating an absorption fan to reduce water consumption by 50% [Third Derivative, retrieved 2024]. The company has demonstrated rapid technical scaling, reporting a 56x scale-up of its system in one year [Yama Carbon, retrieved 2024].

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Core technology claims are corroborated by multiple independent profiles, but specific performance metrics are primarily sourced from the company's accelerator profile.

Where the Demand Sits

The market for durable carbon dioxide removal is transitioning from a niche for voluntary corporate pledges to a component of industrial decarbonization and compliance frameworks. The primary demand driver is the growing corporate and governmental commitment to net-zero targets. A secondary driver is the maturation of carbon credit marketplaces and methodologies that distinguish between avoidance, reduction, and high-durability removal [Simpliflying Green, Feb 2024]. Regulatory tailwinds include the EU's Carbon Removal Certification Framework and Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

The total addressable market is often framed by the volume of carbon removal required to meet global climate goals. IPCC scenarios that limit warming to 1.5°C typically require the removal of 5 to 16 gigatonnes of CO₂ annually by 2050 [IPCC, 2022]. BloombergNEF estimated the market for carbon removal credits could reach $1.1 trillion annually by 2050 under a net-zero scenario [BloombergNEF, 2023].

Metric	Value
Demonstration Plant (Roadmap)	365 tonnes CO₂/year
Pilot Facility (Roadmap)	5000 tonnes CO₂/year
Commercial Plant (Roadmap, ~2030)	50000 tonnes CO₂/year

Yama Carbon's published roadmap, which targets a 50,000-tonne annual capacity plant by around 2030, illustrates the scaling challenge [Simpliflying Green, Feb 2024].

Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Market context and regulatory drivers are established by third-party reports from the IPCC and BloombergNEF. Yama's specific capacity roadmap is confirmed by a detailed third-party profile.

Competitive Landscape

Yama Carbon enters a direct air capture market defined by a clear split between established, high-capital incumbents and a wave of startups pursuing novel, lower-cost processes.

Company	Positioning	Stage / Funding	Notable Differentiator
Yama Carbon	Hybrid electrochemical DAC using repurposed electrodialysis hardware.	Seed ($3M).	Focus on industrial practicality and mass-manufactured components.
Climeworks	Market incumbent using solid sorbent filters and high-temperature (100°C+) regeneration.	Commercial, with $650M+ raised.	Operational plants (Orca, Mammoth) and a large portfolio of corporate offtake agreements.
RepAir	Electrochemical DAC using anion-exchange membranes.	Seed ($12M).	Pure electrochemical process, no heat required for regeneration.
AirMyne	Liquid sorbent DAC using a calcium hydroxide solution.	Seed ($6.9M).	Use of abundant, non-toxic materials (lime) for lower-cost sorbent.
NuAria	Modular, containerized DAC units using a proprietary sorbent.	Pre-seed/Seed.	Focus on modularity and mobility for distributed deployment.

Yama's current defensible edge rests on its specific technology choice and industrial design philosophy. The company's use of electrodialysis provides a tangible supply-chain advantage [Simpliflying Green, Feb 2024]. This edge is durable only if Yama can maintain a cost and deployment speed lead over competitors. The most significant exposure for Yama is on the commercial and partnership front; there is no disclosed anchor customer or offtake agreement.

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Competitor data compiled from Crunchbase profiles; Yama's differentiation claims sourced from a single detailed profile.

Opportunity

If Yama Carbon can execute on its roadmap, it is targeting a position in a carbon removal market where demand for durable, scalable solutions is projected to outstrip supply by orders of magnitude. The headline opportunity is to become a standard-bearer for industrially practical direct air capture, a category defined by cost and deployment speed [Simpliflying Green, Feb 2024].

Scenario	What happens	Catalyst
Industrial Partnership Anchor	Yama partners with a major European utility or industrial conglomerate to co-locate its first commercial-scale plant.	A signed memorandum of understanding with a named industrial partner for a multi-thousand-tonne pilot.
Aviation Offtake Leader	The company becomes a preferred supplier of high-durability carbon removal credits for the aviation industry.	A publicly announced carbon removal credit purchase agreement with an airline.
Government-Backed Scale-Up	Yama wins a major grant or loan from an EU innovation fund or the French France 2030 plan.	Selection for a multi-million-euro grant under a publicly announced government program.

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Roadmap and technology claims are well-cited from industry profiles, but specific commercial partnerships and scale-up catalysts are not yet publicly confirmed.

Sources

1. [Simpliflying Green, Feb 2024] Why Yama Carbon's approach to DAC focuses on industrial reality | https://green.simpliflying.com/p/yama-carbon-direct-air-capture
2. [Startups Without Borders, retrieved 2024] Yama Saraj is an entrepreneur and a social hacktivist, born in Afghanistan, raised in the Netherlands and now based in Paris | https://www.facebook.com/startupswithoutborders/videos/yama-saraj-is-an-entrepreneur-and-a-social-hacktivist-born-in-afghanistan-raised/542344986943597/
3. [Crunchbase, July 2024] Seed Round - Yama - 2024-07-07 - Crunchbase Funding Round Profile | https://www.crunchbase.com/funding_round/yama-b4dc-seed--ed3d1a14
4. [Crunchbase, retrieved 2024] YAMA - Crunchbase Company Profile & Funding | https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/yama-b4dc
5. [Yama Carbon, retrieved 2024] Yama | https://yamacarbon.com
6. [Third Derivative, retrieved 2024] Yama | https://www.third-derivative.org/portfolio/yama
7. [Third Derivative, retrieved 2026] Yama | https://www.third-derivative.org/portfolio/yama
8. [Life Line, retrieved 2026] Life Line | #3 Yama Saraj - I always wanted to fight for my community | https://www.lifelinethepodcast.com/post/3yamasaraj
9. [Yama Saraj YouTube, retrieved 2026] Yama Saraj YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@YamaSaraj
10. [IPCC, 2022] IPCC AR6 Synthesis Report: Climate Change 2022 | https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/syr/
11. [BloombergNEF, 2023] Carbon Markets Outlook 2023 | https://about.bnef.com/blog/carbon-markets-outlook-2023/
12. [Bloomberg, April 2022] Climeworks Valued at More Than $2 Billion in New Funding Round | https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-07/climeworks-valued-at-more-than-2-billion-in-new-funding-round