D-CRBN, an Antwerp company incorporated in 2021 and led by chief executive Gill Scheltjens, co-founder David Ziegler and technology chief Georgi Trenchev, uses renewable electricity to create a plasma that breaks carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide, which steelmakers and chemical plants can use in place of fossil feedstock. The European Commission's CORDIS database shows its EIC Accelerator project, "Plasma-based point-source CCU technology to recycle CO2 into added value chemicals to decarbonize hard-to-abate industries", with an EU contribution of €2,499,999 towards a total cost of €3,607,500, running from July 2024 to December 2026, according to CORDIS. The award was blended finance, a grant plus equity, and D-CRBN said it was the only Belgian company in its cut-off to receive the mix, according to D-CRBN.
In July 2024 D-CRBN connected its unit to a carbon capture pilot run by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries at ArcelorMittal's steel plant in Ghent, the first industrial trial of its technology and the first time a steel plant anywhere tested the process, according to ArcelorMittal. On 26 May 2026 it closed a €17.5 million Series A led by Astaia, with the Belgian federal holding SFPIM and the EIC Fund as follow-on investors, according to D-CRBN. It has no commercial plant in operation: its website lists a first-of-a-kind deployment as "looking for partners".
Company file
- Legal entity
- D-CRBN BV, enterprise number 0765.921.601
- Incorporated
- March 2021, Antwerp
- Management
- Gill Scheltjens (CEO), David Ziegler (CCO), Georgi Trenchev (CTO)
- Products
- Electrified carbon monoxide and syngas
- Investors
- Astaia, SFPIM, EIC Fund
- Industrial partners
- ArcelorMittal, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Aquafin, Eastman
- EIC funding
- Blended finance, €2.5M grant
Where D-CRBN Stands Now
The Series A proceeds are for scaling D-CRBN's first industrial demonstration units, expanding its engineering and operations teams and starting commercial rollout, the company says. It is also offering up to €5 million more to strategic industrial partners on the same terms. Its projects page lists the ArcelorMittal pilot for 2024 to 2025, claiming "fossil price-parity proven" without publishing figures, and a 2026 to 2027 pilot producing syngas from biogas with the water company Aquafin and the chemicals maker Eastman, according to D-CRBN. Since 30 April 2026 its registered directors have been Scheltjens, Ziegler, Benjamin Auerbach, Andreas Blome and a corporate director, according to the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises.
"This Series A marks a significant milestone for D-CRBN... we are well positioned to transition from pilot validation toward industrial scale-up."
D-CRBN, May 2026The Technology: Splitting CO2 With Electricity
D-CRBN's plasma breaks the bond between carbon and oxygen in CO2, producing carbon monoxide. At a steel plant, that carbon monoxide can replace part of the coke or coal in a blast furnace, or feed ArcelorMittal's Steelanol plant in Ghent, which makes chemicals and fuels. The process needs high-purity CO2, which in Ghent came from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' capture unit. D-CRBN launched a pilot line able to recycle 1,000 tonnes of CO2 a year in October 2023, according to D-CRBN. The company has not published the energy use, conversion rate or cost figures behind its price-parity claim.
What the EIC Award Promised, and What the Record Shows
The project aimed to bring point-source CO2 recycling to hard-to-abate industries. It runs until December 2026, so it is too early to judge it. The record so far shows an industrial trial completed at a steel plant and a second pilot planned, but no published trial results and no commercial order.
- Industrial trialDeliveredArcelorMittal Gent.
- Published performance dataUnverifiedNone published.
- Follow-on fundingDelivered€17.5M Series A.
- Commercial deploymentNot yetSeeking partners.
The Money
D-CRBN's accounts at the National Bank of Belgium show small profits of €5,676 in 2023 and €5,847 in 2024, then a loss of €1,009,542 in 2025, which turned its equity from €214,118 to minus €795,424. Contributed capital stayed at €113,600 in every year to 2025, and cash never exceeded €365,089. The company had €676,780 of long-term financial debt at the end of 2025, according to its filed accounts. The Series A closed five months after that balance sheet date.
What Cannot Be Checked
Questions for the EIC
How much the EIC Fund invested before the Series A, and on what terms, is not public. Neither are D-CRBN's revenue, which the abbreviated accounts do not show, or the ArcelorMittal trial results.
Why Europe Should Care
Steel and chemicals are the hard-to-abate industries the project names. Recycling captured CO2 into carbon monoxide with renewable electricity would give them an alternative to fossil feedstock made in Europe. D-CRBN has shown the process at a working steel plant; whether it can do it at a cost industry will pay remains unproven in public.
What the award promised
Plasma recycling of CO2 into chemicals for hard-to-abate industries.
What the record shows
A steel plant trial, a €17.5M round and no commercial plant yet.
The Verdict
Funded, not yet proven at scale
D-CRBN reached a real steel plant and new investors, but it had negative equity before its Series A and has no commercial customer yet.
D-CRBN and the EIC have not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on public records and published statements, linked throughout.
