Arca gets $1.4M funding to advance carbon tech from lab to field deployment 

Canadian carbon removal company Arca Technologies announced Tuesday it is receiving advisory services and up to C$2 million ($1.45m) in funding from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP) Clean Tech initiative supporting the launch of a C$7.4 million ($5.3m) research, development, and demonstration project. 

The project, the company said, will advance Arca’s proprietary mineral activation and engineered carbonation technologies from laboratory scale to field deployment, enabling high-performance carbon dioxide removal using alkaline industrial wastes such as mine tailings and steel slag.  

Arca’s technology is the first field‑scale system to accelerate carbon mineralization in mine waste, aiming to turn a major industry challenge into a scalable CDR solution. 

The technology has attracted the attention of major buyers, including Frontier, who provided an early pre-purchase agreement, and Microsoft, who entered a 10-year CDR offtake agreement with Arca for nearly 300,000 tonnes. 

Over the course of the project, Arca said it will design and build containerized, field-deployable units and prepare for a first-of-kind industrial mineralization pilot. 

“This project represents a major step forward in bringing Canada-developed Industrial Mineralization technologies out of the lab and into real-world industrial settings,” Arca CEO Paul Needham said in a news release. 

 “This support from NRC IRAP enables us to accelerate field validation, deepen partnerships with industrial operators, and advance scalable, durable carbon removal solutions that can deliver meaningful climate impact.” 

The project is expected to strengthen Canada’s cleantech ecosystem through domestic engineering, manufacturing, and skilled job creation, while reinforcing core Canadian industries such as mining, metals, and steel manufacturing by creating new, value-added pathways for industrial by-products, the company said.   

“This innovation extends well beyond carbon removal. It reflects the kind of innovation that drives Canada’s clean economy forward,” Canada’s Minister of Industry Mélanie Joly said.  

“Through advanced engineering, manufacturing, and deployment, this project is creating high-quality jobs, strengthening our industrial capacity, and positioning Canada as a leader in the global transition to net zero.”