HEC Paris and CDL Global Join Forces with XPRIZE for Carbon Removal

HEC Paris, through its Creative Destruction Lab (CDL-Paris), has solidified its position as a key player in the fight against climate change by joining forces with the XPRIZE Foundation and CDL Global. The groundbreaking $100 million Carbon Removal Prize is  one of the largest ever and aims to reward ventures capable of delivering scalable, sustainable carbon removal technologies. HEC Paris’ involvement, alongside CDL-Toronto, marks a new chapter in the institution's ongoing commitment to fostering innovation, entrepreneurship, and impactful climate solutions. The first session of HEC’s fifth CDL stream was held in San Francisco and was co-animated by a school delegation of Inge Kerkloh-Devif, Sebastian Becker and Aymeric Penven.

CDL has been an integral part of the business school since 2020, during which time it has successfully accelerated ventures across its four core streams: Climate, Space, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Next Generation Computing. The collaboration with XPRIZE, elaborated with CDL Global, has thus introduced a fifth stream at HEC Paris, now specifically focused on carbon removal technologies. This marks an important step in broadening the scope of the four-year-old CDL program at HEC, integrating the school further into the global efforts to combat climate change.

Indeed, the XPRIZE Carbon Removal Prize was launched to address the pressing need for viable technologies that can capture and sequester several gigatons of CO2 in the next 25 years. XPRIZE CEO, Anousheh Ansari, a familiar face at CDL-Paris sessions as a mentor, is the world’s first female space tourist and founder of Prodea Systems. She catalyzed the collaboration with HEC as an academic partner. For CDL founder and Rotman professor Ajay Agrawal, the partnership with XPRIZE and HEC can accelerate the commercialization of scalable breakthrough technologies: “Their collaboration with CDL on carbon removal addresses a critical market failure, where the incentives for scalable, impactful climate solutions have been misaligned with the urgency of the problem. Together, we leverage competition and entrepreneurial innovation to bridge this gap.”

Following the prize’s initial announcement, XPRIZE received over 1,000 applications from ventures around the world. Some of these were only founded in response to the prize, but all offered innovative approaches to carbon removal. The submissions were then whittled down, a difficult process which resulted in a top-class shortlist of 100 companies. HEC and CDL-Toronto were then tasked with selecting and accelerating a cohort of 23 of these ventures. The stakes are enormous for these startups: the top startup wins a $50 million investment in its activities, the second receives a $20 million support package, and so on.

Session 1: A Global Gathering of Innovators in San Francisco

The first session of this new CDL stream took place in San Francisco in September 2024, and key figures from CDL-Paris were in attendance. Sebastian Becker, Associate Professor of Accounting and Management Control at HEC, played a central role, moderating discussions throughout the session. A panel of expert mentors, many of whom have longstanding associations with CDL, provided valuable insights and guidance to the participating ventures. Becker was accompanied by other notable HEC figures including the Senior Executive Director of the school’s Innovation & Entrepreneurship Institute, Inge Kerkloh-Devif, and Aymeric Penven, Director of the HEC Paris Deep Tech Center. In the course of the one-day session in California, both were instrumental in shaping the mentoring process.

During the intense 10-hour session, the 23 ventures had the opportunity to present their solutions and engage in small group meetings with mentors, followed by larger room discussions. The session culminated in a round of deliberations where the panel decided which ventures would continue in the program. Several of the initial cohort were unable to meet the rigorous demands of the program leaving a final group of highly engaged and well qualified startups to move forward.

The selection process was rigorous, with mentors evaluating each venture based on their technology’s potential to scale and achieve significant carbon removal within the next decade. As Sebastian Becker explained, the goal was to identify ventures that could remove 1,000 tons of CO2 in the short term and ultimately a gigaton-per-year scale by 2050. The accounting professor highlighted the importance of selecting technologies that were both scalable and durable, with minimal harm to the environment. “There are several complex technologies that need to be harnessed in removing such a huge amount of CO2 without collateral harm to the environment,” he said shortly after returning to the campus. “The startups needed to propose solutions that are effective, scalable and cost effective.”

The Ventures: A Diversity of Carbon Removal Solutions

The ventures represented a diverse range of carbon removal technologies with a multiplicity of approaches. Among the selected ventures are those working on direct air capture (DAC) or ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE), where increasing the ocean's alkalinity allows it to absorb more CO. Others focus on enhanced rock weathering (ERW), which involves breaking down rocks and spreading them on land to capture carbon. Biomass technologies, such as biochar production (which involves burning organic material in a closed environment to create a carbon-rich byproduct that can be given to farmers, thus leading to a positive social and economic impact), also feature among the ventures’ proposals.

Each of these technologies offers a unique way to capture and store carbon. The program aims to accelerate these companies' development and deployment. This is done by the mentors and experts passing on their business judgment and setting three major objectives that the ventures must address in the eight weeks dividing the four sessions.

Geographically, this year's cohort was as diverse as their technological approaches, with companies hailing from the United States, Brazil, the Philippines, and France. The venture from France (which was previously part of the CDL-Paris Climate stream) has now joined the XPRIZE Carbon Removal program, showcasing the potential for CDL-Paris to play a key role in scaling European innovations.

Looking Ahead: HEC Paris' Expanding Role in the Program

The partnership with XPRIZE represents a significant opportunity for HEC Paris, aligning the business school with some of the most important names in the field of innovation and climate action. The institution’s Deep Tech Center and the Climate & Earth Center (which is part of HEC's Sustainability & Organizations Center), will contribute to the program’s academic dimension. European mentors, researchers and HEC students will also be brought in to enhance the program's footprint on the continent.

While the first session took place in person in San Francisco, the second one in the XPRIZE-CDL Carbon Removal stream will be held online. However, the third session is to be hosted at HEC Paris, tentatively scheduled for February 2025. This event further cements HEC’s role as a leading academic partner in the program and provide a platform for the institution to showcase its expertise in fostering entrepreneurial solutions to global challenges. It will also once again provide the opportunity for HEC students in the MBA programs to become involved as advisers.

HEC Paris: A Leader in Climate Innovation

HEC Paris has been increasing its engagement in climate innovation, and this partnership for the XPRIZE Carbon Removal Prize is a testament to its commitment to addressing the climate crisis. As Becker noted, the collaboration with the XPRIZE Foundation brings together world-class mentors, investors, and researchers to tackle one of the most pressing issues of our time. “This first session underlined the diversity of technologies and approaches in helping remove carbon. With the acceleration program, we aim to provide a strong platform in harnessing these scientific initiatives to the pragmatic business imperatives which can make them socially and economically viable. We are very happy to collaborate with our North American partners on solving these challenges.”

Inge Kerkloh-Devif believes the technological innovation and entrepreneurship behind this CDL program are key to transforming HEC students into leaders capable of addressing global challenges. “We’re joining forces with CDL and XPRIZE to train entrepreneurs who are not only focused on economic success but also on generating positive social and environmental impact,” said the director of the school’s Innovation & Entrepreneurship Institute.

As the CDL program progresses, HEC Paris will continue to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of carbon removal technologies. With the next session just seven weeks away and the hosting of Session #3 in Paris early next year, the school is poised to make an impact in the academia’s fight against climate change.