About Us

About Us

Who We Are

We are UCLA's accelerator for breakthrough climate technologies

Founded in 2019, the Institute for Carbon Management (ICM) at UCLA is a group of scientists, engineers, and business experts who work with research groups and entrepreneurs to solve the toughest climate problems to rapidly translate and scale-up technologies from lab-scale to commercial-scale prototypes, eventually spinning them out as commercial ventures (start-ups). This allows the accelerated transformation of science-based technologies into scalable engineering solutions designed to make a real-world impact and bolster the global shift to a carbon-free economy.

To do this, we partner with federal and state agencies, corporations and industry bodies, family offices and foundations and investors to drive impact. We have spun out six companies, and aspire to remove or reduce > 0.5 Gt of CO2 emissions through ICM spinoffs (portfolio companies) in one decade.

What We Do

We build, invest in and accelerate climate technologies

We accelerate the commercialization of tough tech from bench-scale to start-ups. We source promising bench-scale concepts (TRL 2-4) from within and around the UCLA ecosystem in our three focus areas: industrial decarbonization, carbon removal, energy transition. Our team of scientists help de-risk the science and technology at bench-scale. Then, our team of engineers design, engineer and operate pilots to de-risk the engineering and process. In parallel, our team of business experts and industry partners build the business plan, ensure product-market fit, engage with customers and onboard the right team pre-spinout. Our partners and sponsors contribute capital and domain expertise in this process.

Diagram of the ICM technology translation from bench-scale concept to commercial maturity

A Journey of Remarkable Growth and Achievement

ICM created

2019

1st spin-out – CarbonBuilt

2020
  • 2nd spin out (Concrete AI)
  • $21M grant by CZI
2022

3rd spin-out (Equatic)
operationalized pilots in LA and Singapore

2023

Focus Areas

We build and invest in breakthrough technologies across three focus areas

Industrial plant and the blue sky in the background

Industrial Decarbonization

Industrial machinery and nature landscape

Carbon Removal

Electric car being charged, photovoltaic and wind power generation equipment, and sunset in the background

Energy Transition

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Our Team

Bright minds across academia and industry sharing a common passion: climate solutions