C1 Green Chemicals

What C1 Green Chemicals does

C1 Green Chemicals AG is a Berlin-based cleantech company founded in 2021 that develops proprietary catalysis technology for the cost-efficient production of green methanol. The company's core technical offering is the C1-Catalysis, an ultra-efficient homogeneous catalysis invented by founder Dr. Marek Checinski and developed using quantum-chemical simulations combined with laboratory experiments. The catalysis enables mass-production of high-purity green methanol at competitive prices using decentralized, non-fossil feedstocks at low pressures and low temperatures — a fundamentally different architecture than the century-old, energy-intensive conventional methanol process that depends on large-scale plants and cheap fossil feedstocks. The technology is paired with a containerized C1-Reactor design that enables flexible, decentralized deployment and tolerance for syngas impurities from non-fossil sources.

The company validates its technology through the Leuna100 pilot plant at the Leuna Chemical Park in Germany, opened in November 2023 as the world's first industrial-grade pilot for cost-efficient green methanol production. The pilot was built in consortium with Fraunhofer UMSICHT, DBI Freiberg, Fraunhofer IWES, and TU Berlin, funded by a €10.4 million grant from the German Federal Ministry of Transportation, and produced its first batch of methanol in September 2024. C1 targets three primary end-markets: the shipping industry (green methanol as a low-carbon marine fuel), the chemical industry (replacing fossil feedstocks with renewable carbon), and the aviation industry (sustainable aviation fuel feedstock). Its revenue model is structured around licensing its proprietary catalysis and reactor technology to industrial partners, combined with managing the production and supply chain for its proprietary catalysts.

C1 is privately held and venture-capital-backed, having raised approximately €30M+ cumulatively across a 2022 founding-investor round, a 2023 strategic investment from Maersk Growth, a 2023 €10.4M German federal grant, and a €20M equity round in March 2025 led by denkapparat with participation from Maersk Growth, Planet A Ventures, and SquareOne. Its commercial motion is enterprise B2B direct sales targeting industrial partners and operators of green syngas facilities for joint demonstration-plant implementation. Notable individual backers include former BASF CEO Jürgen Hambrecht, former Linde CEO Wolfgang Reitzle, and former SAP/Maersk chairman Jim Hagemann Snabe. As of end of 2025, founder/CTO Dr. Marek Checinski departed to return to CreativeQuantum, with the company explicitly refocusing on commercialization and demonstration-plant construction in 2025.

Name

C1 Green Chemicals

Legal name

C1 Green Chemicals AG

Website

https://carbon.one

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

C1 Green Chemicals AG is a Berlin-based cleantech company developing proprietary homogeneous catalysis and a containerized reactor for decentralized, cost-efficient production of green methanol from non-fossil feedstocks. It targets the shipping, chemical, and aviation industries with a technology-licensing and catalyst-supply business model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Green Methanol Production Technology

NAICS

Other Basic Organic Chemical Manufacturing (32519), Basic Chemical Manufacturing (3251)

SIC

Industrial Organic Chemicals (2860), Chemicals & Allied Products (2800)

akta.pro primary industry

Green Methanol & E‑Alcohols (e‑methanol, ethanol, higher alcohols) (EUABAIAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Hydrogen & Derivative Fuels for Industry (H₂, Ammonia, Methanol) (EUABAJAC), C1 & Synthesis Gas Derivatives (Methanol, Formaldehyde, Acetic Acid) (IMAEADAC), Alternative Low-Carbon Marine Fuels Bunkering (Methanol, Biofuels, Ammonia, Hydrogen) (TLAHAKAC), Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Production (HEFA, FT, ATJ) (EUAAAHAE)

Keywords

• Green methanol production
• Homogeneous catalysis technology
• Decentralized chemical manufacturing
• Carbon-neutral fuels
• Cleantech chemical licensing

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Green Methanol Production Technology Licensing: C1 licenses its proprietary C1-catalysis technology and reactor design to industrial partners for green methanol production. The company provides superior downstream processes to operators of green syngas facilities.
2. Catalyst Supply Chain: C1 establishes and manages production and supply chain for proprietary catalysts, from laboratory scale to industrial production.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

C1 Green Chemicals AG develops and licenses a proprietary ultra-efficient homogeneous catalysis (C1-Catalysis) and a containerized reactor design (C1-Reactor) that together enable mass-production of high-purity green methanol from non-fossil feedstocks at low pressures and temperatures. The technology is being validated at the Leuna100 industrial-grade pilot plant in Germany, with a commercial demonstration plant planned to begin construction in 2025 to serve shipping, aviation, and chemical industry customers.

Product overview

C1 Green Chemicals AG offers an integrated green methanol production solution comprising the C1-Catalysis (ultra-efficient homogeneous catalysis technology) and the C1-Reactor (containerized, decentralized reactor design). These products work together to enable cost-efficient production of high-purity green methanol from non-fossil feedstocks at low pressures and temperatures. The technology is validated through the Leuna100 pilot plant in Germany, with a demonstration plant planned for 2025.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Leuna100: World's first industrial-grade pilot plant for cost-efficient green methanol production located at Leuna Chemical Park, Germany. Joint project with Fraunhofer, DBI, TU Berlin.

Products and services

• C1-Catalysis Proprietary ultra-efficient homogeneous catalysis technology for green methanol production that enables mass-production of high-purity green methanol at competitive prices using decentralized, non-fossil feedstocks, low pressures, and low temperatures. Sold/licensed to industrial partners.
• C1-Reactor Containerized, modular reactor design enabling decentralized green methanol production using the patented C1-Catalysis. The flexible design allows for load balancing operations, tolerance for syngas impurities, and deployment almost anywhere. Sold/licensed to industrial partners.
• Leuna100 Pilot Plant The world's first industrial-grade pilot plant for cost-efficient green methanol production, located at the Leuna Chemical Park in Germany. A joint project with Fraunhofer, DBI, TU Berlin, and C1, used to validate and improve the C1-Catalysis and C1-Reactor.
• Green Methanol High-purity green methanol produced via C1's proprietary C1-Catalysis from non-fossil feedstocks at low pressures and temperatures. Ready for industrial use as a fossil-free fuel in shipping and as a non-fossil carbon source in the chemical industry.

Quantifiable outcome

• Development time reduced from 15 years to approximately 5 years using quantum chemistry predictive methods
• +2 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability1 record

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Fraunhofer UMSICHTcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProject partner in Leuna100 consortium contributing novel low-temperature co-electrolysis technology for electricity-based synthesis gas generation.
• DBI-Gastechnologisches Institut gGmbH FreibergcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProject partner in Leuna100 consortium providing industrial reverse water gas shift unit for the process chain.
• Fraunhofer IWEScoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProject partner in Leuna100 consortium providing location and infrastructure at Hydrogen Lab Leuna, and evaluation of load flexibility of the overall process.
• TU BerlincoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProject partner in Leuna100 consortium providing operating concept based on dynamic overall process model, and evaluation and optimization of load-flexibility.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Carbon Recycling International (CRI): CRI operates the George Olah plant in Iceland and licenses methanol-from-CO2 technology. Most direct comparison to C1: produces green methanol from captured CO2 and renewable H2, also targets shipping and chemical industry customers with a process-licensing and off-take model.
• Topsoe: Danish catalysis and process technology major with active e-methanol (eMethanol) offering based on its SynCOR and TOPSOE technologies. Competes head-to-head with C1 in licensing heterogeneous and homogeneous methanol synthesis for green-fuel and chemical-feedstock applications.
• Sunfire: German alkaline electrolyzer and Power-to-X company developing e-fuels including e-methanol and e-kerosene via co-electrolysis and synthesis. Direct process and customer overlap with C1 in green-methanol and e-SAF markets; based in Germany with strong EU industrial-partner network.

Emerging players

• HIF Global: Chile/US e-fuels developer building commercial-scale e-methanol and e-gasoline plants using green hydrogen and captured CO2. Targets shipping and aviation fuel markets that overlap C1's primary segments, but at much larger scale and with project-finance-backed offtake contracts.
• Infinium: US-based e-fuels producer commercializing e-fuels including e-methanol, e-jet and e-diesel via proprietary reverse-water-gas-shift + FT pathway. Overlaps with C1 in producing e-methanol for shipping and aviation customers from green hydrogen and captured CO2.
• Norsk e-Fuel: Norwegian startup building Europe's first commercial e-methanol plant using CO2 and green hydrogen. Targets the same Nordic-European shipping fuel customer base as C1 with project-financed industrial-scale output.
• C2X Energy: Maersk-led joint venture to develop green methanol production assets globally. Shares C1's anchor investor (Maersk Growth) and target customer (Maersk shipping fleet); potential competitor and complementary feedstock off-taker depending on C1 partnership structure.

Broad incumbents

• OCI Global: Global nitrogen and methanol producer with significant conventional methanol capacity and announced green/blue methanol projects. Broad incumbent that C1 must displace or partner with in chemical-industry and shipping-fuel offtake markets.
• Methanex: World's largest methanol producer with a portfolio of conventional and low-carbon methanol assets, including Geismar and methanol Atlas projects. Sets the pricing benchmark C1's green methanol must undercut, and increasingly pivoting into renewable methanol to defend share.
• Clariant Catalysts: Major specialty chemicals and catalyst manufacturer with Methanol and MegaMax catalyst lines used in conventional and green methanol plants. Competes with C1 on heterogeneous catalysis solutions for syngas-to-methanol at industrial scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/C1greenchemical
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC0Mrt7W9MHbNihsAHVuSoTQ
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/c1-circular-carbon-chemistry
• Instagraminstagram.com/c1_green_chemicals

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds4 records

Investors4 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about C1 Green Chemicals