Author: Tara Bojdak

Creates first U.S. facility to domestically produce bipolar membranes and electrodialysis systems

PASADENA, Calif., June 10, 2025 — Captura, a leading Direct Ocean Capture (DOC) company, today announced the establishment of its new global headquarters and manufacturing facility in Pasadena, California. The 30,000-square-foot site will house the company’s growing team, expand R&D capacity, and launch commercial production of Captura’s high-performance electrodialysis technology—making this the first facility in the U.S. to manufacture complete electrodialysis systems, from membrane fabrication to stack assembly.

Founded at Caltech in 2021, Captura’s advanced electrodialysis system delivers up to 10 times higher performance than commercially available alternatives while requiring less capital investment and energy. Production of this technology will serve dual purposes: powering Captura’s DOC carbon removal systems while also being sold to a range of industries, including desalination, wastewater treatment, critical mineral extraction, new energy, life sciences, and other electrochemical carbon removal approaches. The expanded operations also position Captura to grow its workforce, generating additional skilled jobs in engineering, manufacturing, and operations.

“This new facility is a major step forward in scaling Captura’s operations and accelerating commercial deployment,” said Steve Oldham, CEO of Captura. “It also reflects our commitment to advancing homegrown technologies through American manufacturing. As the first U.S. manufacturing center for full electrodialysis systems, we’re creating local jobs, strengthening regional supply chains, and establishing domestic production capabilities for a high-demand electrochemical technology, reducing American dependence on foreign-made components.”

Captura’s proprietary electrodialysis technology—a process that uses ion-selective membranes and electrical current to separate ions in solution—significantly outperforms commercially available systems in both efficiency and cost. At the core of this advancement is Captura’s high-performance, PFAS-free bipolar membrane, which is made using polymer materials that are significantly less expensive than commercially available options. Captura has also developed an improved electrodialysis stack design that further enhances overall system performance.

“Our electrodialysis technology was born in Caltech’s Pasadena laboratories, so it’s fitting that we’re now scaling its commercial production here,” said CX Xiang, Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of Captura. “This facility enables us to develop, optimize, customize and manufacture our best-in-class bipolar membranes and electrodialysis stacks in-house—a vertically integrated approach that positions Captura to deliver one of, if not the, highest-performance and lowest-cost electrodialysis solutions on the market.”

Electrodialysis technology is instrumental for multiple industries including desalination, wastewater treatment, critical mineral extraction, and life sciences. Producing Captura’s advanced systems domestically can help dramatically reduce costs across these sectors and strengthen America’s position in the global technology supply chain.

Captura’s electrodialysis system also forms the basis of its DOC technology, which extracts CO₂ directly from seawater without chemical additives or waste products. This creates a measurable stream of CO₂ that can be permanently stored or utilized in a range of industrial applications, while allowing the ocean to naturally absorb more CO₂ from the atmosphere.

More information on Captura’s proprietary electrodialysis technology can be found here.

• Captura is now selling carbon credits from its first commercial Direct Ocean Capture facilities, with Mitsui O.S.K. Lines signing the first large-volume offtake agreement for 30,000 tons
• Mitsui O.S.K. Lines has also invested in Captura through its venture capital arm, MOL Switch LLC, and entered a strategic partnership to explore deploying commercial Captura plants

TOKYO and PASADENA, Calif., March 25, 2025 – Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), a global shipping leader, has become the first company to sign a large-volume offtake agreement for the permanent removal of carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the atmosphere using Captura’s Direct Ocean Capture (DOC) technology. Under the agreement, MOL has purchased 30,000 carbon removal credits, to be delivered by one of Captura’s first commercial DOC facilities before the end of 2030. The commercial agreement will support MOL’s 2050 net zero target.

Captura’s DOC technology offers a highly scalable and efficient form of carbon removal by combining innovations in electrochemistry with the natural carbon removal capability of the world’s oceans. It works by extracting a measurable stream of CO₂ from seawater, creating capacity for the ocean to absorb more CO₂ from the atmosphere. The technology has already been demonstrated in three operational pilot plants, and early design work is now underway for Captura’s first commercial facility, expected to capture 30,000-50,000 tons of CO₂ per year.

In addition to the carbon credit purchase, MOL and Captura have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to enter a strategic partnership aimed at deploying commercial DOC plants. Captura’s business model is to license its technology to deployment partners who will build, own and operate large-scale DOC facilities around the world.

Furthermore, MOL Switch, MOL’s corporate venture capital firm, has invested in Captura as part of its work to support the development of new technologies and business models to decarbonize the energy sector.

Tomoaki Ichida, CEO of MOL Switch, stated, “At MOL, we are dedicated to advancing innovative decarbonization solutions that align with our sustainability goals. DOC technology offers a cost-effective and durable approach to carbon removal, and we are excited to collaborate with Captura—both by purchasing high-quality carbon credits to support our net-zero efforts and by strategically investing and partnering to help scale and deploy this high-potential technology. We see this as a crucial step in our sustainability journey and a significant business opportunity in the rapidly growing carbon removal market.”

This announcement follows the start of successful operations at Captura’s third DOC pilot plant in Hawaii, unveiled two months ago. This pilot is now operating at the rate of 1000 tons of CO₂ captured annually and marks the final step in Captura’s technology development program, building on its earlier 1-ton and 100-ton systems in California. This third pilot demonstrates Captura’s modular technology at a scale and performance level that can be repeated to build large commercial facilities.

Steve Oldham, CEO of Captura, said, “Our go-to-market strategy has always focused on proving that our technology can scale sustainably and affordably before bringing it to market. We’ve achieved this through a diligent pilot and scale-up program, successfully increasing capacity by a factor of 1,000 while meeting all key performance indicators. With the successful operations of our 1000-ton pilot, we have validated the readiness of our technology for large-scale deployment and are now actively securing offtake agreements for commercial facilities.

“This partnership and first offtake agreement with MOL marks a major milestone in bringing our technology to market. We are excited to collaborate with MOL as we rapidly advance towards commercial deployment and expand access to high-quality carbon removal solutions.”

Captura’s DOC technology also previously secured a carbon removal pre-purchase from Frontier Climate, acting on behalf of Stripe and Shopify. Signed in 2022 with a standard value of $500,000, the pre-purchase agreement supported Captura’s early technology development, with the carbon removal to be delivered from a forthcoming Captura facility.

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About Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd.:
Founded in 1884, MOL is a leading company in the shipping industry that operates various social infrastructure businesses, centering on the oceangoing shipping business with a fleet of over 900 vessels. It is one of the first in the shipping industry to set a target of achieving net zero GHG emissions by 2050, and is committed to reduce GHG emissions including involvement in Carbon Dioxide Removal industry through concerted efforts as the group.

About Captura:
Captura is a Direct Ocean Capture company headquartered in Pasadena, California. Captura combines innovative technology with the natural carbon removal powers of the ocean to remove CO₂ from the atmosphere at large scale and low-cost, providing a critical capability in the fight against climate change. Captura was founded at Caltech and its solution has been supported by the Carbon Removal XPRIZE, the Department of Energy’s ARPA-E, and Frontier Climate.