Fundraising Fox
Carbo Energy
Techstars '24Ciudad de Buenos Aires, AR · 1 employees on LinkedIn · 1 known investors
Find your way into Carbo Energy
Sign up to see every warm intro you have to Carbo Energy
- Paths you didn't know you had: your email and LinkedIn already hold routes to the Carbo Energy team. We find them for you
- 2nd- and 3rd-degree connections: the friend-of-a-friend routes that take hours to manually find through your inbox or LinkedIn
- Answers now, not in days: momentum is everything in a raise. Skip asking around whether someone knows someone
Days of research, done the moment you sign in, with every route ranked by how warm it is.
Carbo Energy builds hybrid non-aqueous redox flow batteries for grid-scale energy storage, designed to complement renewable energy sources with a 40-year lifespan, zero fire risk, and degradation of 0.2% annually. The company serves utilities, datacenters, mining operations, and renewable energy farms across multiple markets including energy trading, backup power, and off-grid operations.
Also known as Carbo
Investors · 1
How we know: the Techstars portfolio · open dataset · Top 3000 Accelerator Startups (no YC) 2026-08 · Not right? Tell us
Company profile
researched Sep 2026Carbo Energy develops hybrid non-aqueous redox flow batteries for grid-scale and long-duration energy storage. Its architecture pairs a chloroaluminate ionic-liquid-analogue anolyte (AlCl₃:N-ethylurea at a 1.4:1 molar ratio, 6.878 M, E° = −1.66 V vs SHE, 20.64 mol e⁻/L electron inventory) with an ether-functionalized phenothiazine catholyte carrying an FTFSI counteranion that undergoes a two-electron redox reaction (E° = +1.18 V vs SHE), both in a diglyme solvent. The combination yields a nominal cell voltage of 2.84 V and an energy density of 190–200 Wh/L, which the company describes as roughly a third of lithium-ion density but far above vanadium flow chemistry, while remaining non-pyrophoric and tolerating up to 50,500 ppm water.
The standard product is a containerized 1 MWh / 250 kW module with four hours of duration, holding 2,500 L each of anolyte and catholyte, occupying about 20 m² and weighing 6–7 tonnes in a 20-foot container with plug-and-play grid connection and no thermal management. Because power (cell stack) and energy (tank volume) are decoupled, systems scale from 50 kWh to more than 100 MWh by adding electrolyte rather than cells; the company also describes repurposing decommissioned oil tanks and closed gas stations, citing a 5,000 m³ tank as equivalent to 950 MWh of storage. Published performance and cost figures include >8,000 laboratory cycles at <0.2% fade per cycle, 0.2% annual degradation, $126/kWh in active materials, $183/kWh installed CAPEX and a 20-year LCOS of $0.08–0.10/kWh, with the chemistry stated as validated in laboratory.
A second product line, Carbo OS, is an AI-driven battery management and optimization platform. It handles real-time monitoring of battery health and efficiency, predictive maintenance and diagnostics, reinforcement-learning-based charge/discharge control, and forecasting of demand, renewable generation and market prices, and it supports energy arbitrage and participation in demand response and ancillary services. Integration is offered through a RESTful API, SCADA and BMS compatibility, grid operator communication protocols, weather forecasting services and energy market data feeds.
Founding story
The company grew out of the founding team's shared experience at Siemens, where the founder and three other members worked on power grids and the challenges of scaling renewable energy and storage. The founder and two colleagues had previously co-founded a smart-grid analytics startup that was sold in 2021. Work on the battery technology began in September 2021 with a team of electrical, chemical and mechanical engineers and simulation specialists. David Trejo Pizzo is CEO and founder.
Business model
Carbo Energy develops and sells containerized grid-scale energy storage systems built on its own flow-battery chemistry, sized from 50 kWh to over 100 MWh, together with Carbo OS, a software layer for monitoring, control and market optimization. Systems are configured by pairing cell-stack power capacity with variable electrolyte tank volume; the company publishes a cost model of roughly $6.5M fixed power infrastructure for a 10 MW system plus about $129/kWh of variable cost for electrolyte, tanks and balance of system, with quoted installed pricing including a 20% margin. Long-term service includes an electrolyte refresh around year 20 (quoted at $4–6M for a 120 MWh system) to extend operating life toward 40 years.
Revenue is derived from sales of containerized storage systems priced on an installed cost-per-kWh basis (quoted at $183/kWh at module scale and about $224/kWh for a 10 MW / 120 MWh, 12-hour configuration costing $26.9M installed), plus periodic electrolyte refresh services and the Carbo OS software platform sold to energy providers and businesses operating storage assets.
Traction
As of March 2024 the company reported one pilot project underway in Argentina and discussions for two additional pilots in Colombia and Chile, with battery chemistry validated in laboratory testing (10,000 cycles reported in 2024; >8,000 cycles at <0.2% fade per cycle cited on the company site). It was recruiting for its engineering team with plans to add sales and regulatory roles.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
An early-stage entrant in long-duration energy storage, with technology described as laboratory-validated and a first pilot project underway. It targets the gap between short-duration lithium-ion systems and low-energy-density vanadium flow batteries, citing an IEA projection that global long-duration energy storage must grow 25× by 2030 and a $186B+ market opportunity, alongside 35+ GW of AI-driven datacenter load additions to US grids by 2030 and 30–40% curtailment of solar and wind output.
Carbo Energy positions its chemistry between lithium-ion and vanadium flow batteries: a 2.84 V cell voltage roughly double that of vanadium, 190–200 Wh/L versus 25–40 Wh/L for vanadium and 250+ Wh/L for lithium-ion, and an optimal duration of 8 to 100+ hours versus 2–4 hours for lithium-ion. It claims 0.2% annual degradation against 2–3% for lithium-ion, removing the need for cell augmentation at years 8–10 (which it estimates at $12–18M for a 120 MWh system), and a 20-year total cost of ownership of $22M versus $48–64M for lithium-ion and $42–60M for vanadium. Further stated advantages are non-pyrophoric operation with no thermal management or fire-risk insurance premium, a supply chain of abundant, locally available materials rather than critical minerals or vanadium sourced largely from China and Russia, and use of waste chemicals as feedstock in a circular-economy approach.
Technology
Hybrid non-aqueous redox flow battery chemistry combining an AlCl₃:N-ethylurea chloroaluminate anolyte and a phenothiazine-OEG-FTFSI catholyte with two-electron transfer, both dissolved in diglyme, separated by an ion-selective membrane in a series-connected bipolar-plate stack rated at 250 kW. The design decouples power from energy, is non-pyrophoric, requires no thermal management or glovebox handling, and tolerates water contamination. The redox flow batteries are described as using waste chemicals as inputs. The Carbo OS software layer adds machine-learning optimization, predictive analytics and market integration.
Go-to-market
The company markets directly through its website with requests for demos and contact with sales for Carbo OS, and has pursued pilot deployments with partners in Latin America. It joined the Techstars Sustainability Paris Accelerator to expand its network, refine business strategy and pursue partnerships, including potential expansion into Europe.
Grid and utility-scale storage buyers, including operators of renewable generation facing curtailment, datacenters requiring 4–12 hours of backup, and energy providers and businesses seeking arbitrage and ancillary-service revenue from storage assets.
Geography
Headquartered in Argentina, with a pilot project underway there and discussions for two further pilots in Colombia and Chile as of March 2024. Participation in the Techstars Sustainability Paris Accelerator was framed as a route to global visibility and to exploring business in Europe. Market sizing on the company's site references US grid and datacenter demand.
History
Several members of the founding team, including the founder, previously worked at Siemens on power grids and renewable energy and storage scaling. The founder and two team members then co-founded a smart-grid analytics startup that exited in 2021. Since September 2021 a team of electrical, chemical and mechanical engineers plus simulation specialists has worked on the battery technology. Early lab results of the chemical combinations did not meet target charge/discharge cycling, but a reformulation developed within about two months reached 10,000 laboratory cycles. The company met the managing director of the Techstars Sustainability Paris Accelerator at a startup match-up event in 2023 and joined the program, profiled by Techstars in March 2024, while based in Argentina with a pilot underway there and discussions for pilots in Colombia and Chile.
Risks & controversies
Performance and cost claims — including >8,000 cycles at <0.2% fade, 190–200 Wh/L density, $183/kWh installed CAPEX and 40-year system life — are described as validated in laboratory rather than in field-deployed systems, and comparative total-cost-of-ownership figures are company-generated models. Commercial traction is limited to one pilot in Argentina and discussions for two others as of March 2024.
Compiled by commissioned research from 6 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Related companies · 2
Companies working in the same space as Carbo Energy.
Timeline · 3
launches, deals, and filingsThe company reported one pilot project underway in Argentina and discussions for two additional pilots in Colombia and Chile.
Carbo Energy joined the Techstars Sustainability Paris Accelerator, its first acceleration program, after meeting managing director Raphaele Leyendecker Fabbri at a sustainable startup match-up event in 2023.
After initial lab results of its chemical combinations fell short of required charge/discharge cycles, the team developed a new formulation within two months that performed 10,000 charge and discharge cycles in the laboratory, forming the basis of its current battery technology.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 6
primary sources listed
- Carbo Energycarbo.energy · web
6 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Carbo Energy do?
- Argentina-based developer of hybrid non-aqueous redox flow batteries and control software for long-duration grid-scale storage.
- Who are Carbo Energy's investors?
- Carbo Energy's investors include Techstars.
- Where is Carbo Energy headquartered?
- Carbo Energy is headquartered in Ciudad de Buenos Aires, AR.