Deep Sky
Innisfail, CA · Founded 2022 · 69 employees on LinkedIn · 9 known investors
Deep Sky develops carbon removal technology, leveraging geological expertise and subsurface engineering to address climate change. The company operates with teams of geologists, climate scientists, and software engineers across multiple countries.
Also known as Deep Sky Corporation · Deep Sky Labs
Founders & leadership
Deep Sky was founded in 2022 by Joost Ouwerkerk.
Investors · 9
Also in the syndicate · 5
Funding
SEC filings, press & company announcements- Undisclosed amountSeries ANov 2023 · 2 sources
Brightspark Ventures (lead), Whitecap Venture Partners (lead), BDC Capital, Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC)'s Climate Tech Fund, Investissement Québec, OMERS Ventures, Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System
Source ↗
Source: company announcements and press reports — follow each round's link for the claim.
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Deep Sky is a Canadian carbon removal project development company that builds, owns and operates carbon dioxide removal infrastructure and sells the resulting carbon removal credits. Rather than developing its own capture machine, it takes a technology-agnostic approach, hosting and benchmarking direct air capture (DAC) and direct ocean capture (DOC) systems from multiple third-party developers, then combining them with power supply and permanent geologic storage in vertically integrated projects.
Its first facility, Deep Sky Alpha in Innisfail, Alberta, is described as the first site to deploy several DAC technologies simultaneously; the site was designed to host eight different DAC technologies with a capacity of about 3,000 tonnes of CO2 per year (roughly 30,000 tonnes over ten years including planned expansion), with proprietary Deep Sky software instrumenting and benchmarking performance year-round in Canadian climate conditions. Results from Alpha are intended to inform the design of larger commercial projects, which are projected to capture and sequester 200,000-300,000 tonnes of CO2 per year per campus. Deep Sky is also developing in-situ mineralization storage in Quebec at Thetford Mines and Bécancour, where CO2 dissolved in water is injected into mafic and ultramafic rock formations to be permanently stored as carbonate rock, and a further project has been reported in Manitoba.
The company positions Canada as its base because of excess hydro and nuclear electricity, large identified geologic storage capacity across basalt formations and saline aquifers, supportive government policy and an industrial workforce.
Founding story
Deep Sky was founded in 2022 by Hopper co-founders Frederic (Fred) Lalonde and Joost Ouwerkerk, together with Laurence Tosi, the former CFO of Airbnb, with the aim of using carbon capture technology to remove atmospheric CO2 and monetize it through carbon credit sales.
Business model
Deep Sky builds, owns and operates carbon removal facilities and monetizes them through the sale of carbon removal credits, supplying compliance markets, voluntary markets and government procurement programs. Buyers include large corporates purchasing credits to offset emissions, typically under multi-year offtake agreements, and credits are validated and issued on carbon registries such as Isometric. The model relies on securing land, power, government support, licensed DAC technology and geologic storage, and on parallelizing cost reduction across multiple capture technologies.
Revenue comes from the sale of carbon removal credits, each representing one metric tonne of CO2 removed, sold to corporate buyers and through compliance, voluntary and government procurement channels, supported by grants such as the Breakthrough Energy Catalyst award.
Traction
Deep Sky Alpha began operations in August 2025 in Innisfail, Alberta. The company sold its first carbon credits to Microsoft and RBC under an agreement to capture 10,000 tonnes of CO2 over ten years with options for an additional one million tonnes from its commercial pipeline, and later delivered what it describes as North America's first certified DAC carbon removal credits, issued by Isometric, to those buyers. It has signed a ten-year offtake with TD Bank Group for more than 18,000 DAC removal credits, received a $40 million USD grant from Breakthrough Energy Catalyst, and secured an investment from SMBC tied to the Japanese market. Its team includes 5+ geologists and subsurface specialists, 10+ climate and capture engineers and 8+ software and data engineers, with 15+ countries represented.
Latest developments
Deep Sky Alpha began operations in August 2025. Recent announcements include the arrival of DACLab's commercial-scale Kelvin Tower system at Alpha, delivery of North America's first certified direct air capture carbon removal credits issued by Isometric to Microsoft and RBC, an investment from SMBC to develop the DAC/CDR credit market in Japan, and a ten-year offtake agreement with TD Bank Group covering more than 18,000 removal credits.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Deep Sky describes itself as the first cross-technology, technology-agnostic carbon removal project developer, and was reported by Reuters as the first North American company to deliver verified carbon removal credits from direct air capture. It has attracted institutional buyers and backers including Microsoft, RBC, TD Bank Group, SMBC and Breakthrough Energy Catalyst, which made its first Canadian and first DAC commitment through the company. Le Journal de Montréal named it one of 40 promising Quebec companies.
The company positions itself as a cross-technology project developer rather than a single-technology capture company: by hosting a portfolio of vetted DAC systems at one site it aims to reduce deployment risk, parallelize cost reduction across technologies and generate comparative operating data. It also emphasizes vertical integration across capture, power and permanent geologic storage, full traceability of CO2 molecules, and credits validated and issued on carbon registries.
Technology
The company is technology-agnostic, integrating third-party direct air capture and direct ocean capture systems with permanent geologic storage. Approaches under test or partnership include seawater-based capture with Equatic using UCLA-developed electrolysis that locks CO2 into seawater as bicarbonate ions and mineral carbonates while producing hydrogen; electrochemical ocean carbon removal with Captura, which splits seawater into acidic and alkaline streams; sorbent- and solvent-based DAC from partners including Mission Zero, Greenlyte, Carbon Atlantis, Skyrenu, Neg8, Avnos, Climeworks, Skytree, Sustaera, Svante and Carbyon; and in-situ mineralization storage with Carbfix. Standardized instrumentation and proprietary software track and benchmark the performance of each system at Deep Sky Alpha. Deep Sky also runs Deep Sky Research, which analyzes climate datasets (ERA5/C3S, Scripps/NOAA, NSIDC/NASA, AVISO/CNES, NOAA/NCEI) and publishes climate modeling reports.
Go-to-market
Deep Sky sells carbon removal credits directly to enterprise buyers, often via long-term offtake agreements such as a ten-year contract with TD Bank Group, and offers purchases to both enterprise and individual customers through its site. It also partners with DAC and storage technology developers who deploy equipment at its facilities, and works with corporate and strategic investors such as SMBC to open regional markets like Japan.
Enterprises and financial institutions seeking durable, verifiable carbon dioxide removal credits for net-zero and decarbonization commitments, including large corporates such as Microsoft, RBC and TD Bank Group, plus individual purchasers, compliance and voluntary market participants, and government procurement programs.
Geography
Headquartered in Montreal, Canada, with its first operating facility, Deep Sky Alpha, in Innisfail, Alberta, and project and storage work in Quebec at Bécancour and Thetford Mines. A carbon capture project has also been reported in Manitoba, and the company is targeting Japan for credit demand. Staff operate across Canada and internationally, with 15+ countries represented.
History
After its 2022 founding, Deep Sky raised $10 million in 2023 from the Quebec government, Brightspark Ventures and private investors, and the founders recruited then-OMERS Ventures managing partner Damian Steel as CEO. A Series A of $57.5 million CAD closed in November 2023, with additional capital reported bringing total funding to $75 million. Through 2023 and 2024 the company signed partnerships with DAC, DOC and storage technology providers to pilot and assess commercial viability. In August 2024 it selected Innisfail, Alberta for its first carbon removal innovation and commercialization centre, initially called Deep Sky Labs and later renamed Deep Sky Alpha; in December 2024 it received a $40 million USD grant from Breakthrough Energy Catalyst. Alpha's opening slipped from winter to spring 2025 and the facility began operating in August 2025. Alexandra Petre is listed as CEO, with Fred Lalonde as co-founder and board chairman and Joost Ouwerkerk as CTO and co-founder.
Risks & controversies
Coverage of the company's November 2023 Series A noted that Deep Sky faces long odds according to experts, and the schedule for its first facility slipped from an initially announced winter opening to spring 2025 and ultimately to operations beginning in August 2025.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 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.
Competitors · 2
by search overlap
Companies competing with Deep Sky for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.
Timeline · 10
launches, deals, and filingsDeep Sky Alpha, the company's first facility and the first to deploy multiple DAC technologies simultaneously, began operations in Innisfail, Alberta.
Le Journal de Montréal named Deep Sky one of 40 promising Quebec companies that could help shape the next decade.
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation invested in Deep Sky to support development and commercialization of DAC-based carbon removal credits in Japan.
Deep Sky Alpha welcomed DACLab and its Kelvin Tower, a commercial-scale direct air capture system for durable carbon removal.
TD Bank Group agreed to purchase more than 18,000 verified direct air capture carbon dioxide removal credits from Deep Sky under a ten-year offtake agreement.
Deep Sky delivered North America's first certified direct air capture carbon removal credits, issued by Isometric from Deep Sky Alpha in Alberta, to Microsoft and Royal Bank of Canada.
Deep Sky received a $40 million USD ($57.3 million CAD) grant from Breakthrough Energy Catalyst, the Bill Gates-founded climate funding platform, to build its first direct air capture facility, Deep Sky Alpha, and fund associated research and technology testing. Deep Sky said it was Catalyst's first support of both a Canadian and a DAC project.
$40M source ↗
Deep Sky sold its first carbon credits to buyers including RBC and Microsoft, under an agreement to capture 10,000 tonnes of CO2 over ten years plus options to purchase an additional 1 million tonnes from Deep Sky's commercial project pipeline.
Deep Sky selected Innisfail, Alberta as the site of its first carbon removal innovation and commercialization centre, then called Deep Sky Labs and later renamed Deep Sky Alpha, designed to host eight DAC technologies.
Deep Sky launched its first CO2 mineralization storage project in partnership with Carbfix.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Deep Skydeepskyclimate.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Deep Sky do?
- Canadian carbon removal project developer that builds, owns and operates multi-technology direct air capture and storage facilities.
- Who founded Deep Sky?
- Deep Sky was founded by Joost Ouwerkerk in 2022.
- Who are Deep Sky's investors?
- Deep Sky's investors include Brightspark Ventures, OMERS Ventures, Panache Ventures, Whitecap Venture Partners.
- Where is Deep Sky headquartered?
- Deep Sky is headquartered in Innisfail, CA.