What EDAC Labs does

EDAC Labs is a Baltimore-based, privately held deep-tech startup founded in July 2022 that develops electrochemical and hydrometallurgical technologies for industrial decarbonization. Its core innovation is the Electrosynthesizer™, an electrochemical cell that enables low-energy splitting of brine into acids and bases at less than half the cost of conventional chlor-alkali processes, without hazardous emissions or waste. The technology is modular and deployable on-site, and serves as the platform foundation for an expanding portfolio of application-specific products including e-waste refining for critical metal recovery, recycled glass upcycling into sodium silicate, carbon-neutral silicate rock processing for silica and magnesium products, lithium and sodium sulfate recycling for battery materials, and direct air capture with mineral carbonation for permanent CO2 sequestration.

The company serves industrial customers in e-waste and battery recycling, chemical manufacturing (particularly sodium silicate, a roughly $10 billion global market), mining and critical minerals processing, and corporate carbon removal purchasers including Stripe and Shopify via Frontier. Revenue is generated through a mix of direct Electrosynthesizer hardware sales, processing services for waste streams, and carbon removal credit transactions. Go-to-market is enterprise field sales with direct relationship-building to developers working in industrial decarbonization and related applications.

EDAC Labs is venture-backed with $3 million in seed funding led by the Grantham Foundation (August 2023) and supplemented by ARPA-E MINER and NSF Tech Metal Transformation Challenge non-dilutive funding, with a target of capturing one ton of CO2 per day by the end of 2024. Leadership combines Johns Hopkins University electrochemistry researchers (Chao Wang as CSO, Hao Shen as CTO) with experienced operators (Brian Toll as CEO, Jim Lavin as co-founder/board member).

Name

EDAC Labs

Legal name

EDAC Labs

Website

https://edaclabs.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

EDAC Labs is a Baltimore-based deep-tech startup developing the Electrosynthesizer™, an electrochemical cell that splits brine into low-cost acids and bases for industrial decarbonization, e-waste refining, glass upcycling, and direct air capture of CO2.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Decarbonization Technology

NAICS

Electromedical and Electrotherapeutic Apparatus Manufacturing (334510)

SIC

Industrial Instruments For Measurement, Display, And Control (3823)

akta.pro primary industry

EDA Software Platforms (Digital Implementation, Verification & Signoff) (HDAHAFAA)

Keywords

• Electrochemical processing
• Industrial decarbonization
• E-waste refining
• Carbon capture
• Hydrometallurgical extraction

Headquarters

HQ city

Baltimore

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Electrosynthesizer System Sales: Sale of electrochemical systems to developers and companies working in industrial decarbonization and other applications requiring simultaneous manufacture of acid and base. The technology is modular, can be located on-site, and generates acid and base at about half the cost of chlor-alkali without hazardous emissions or waste.
2. E-Waste Upcycling Services: Processing and upcycling of post-consumer electronic waste, recovering critical metals (copper, tin, battery materials, rare earths, precious metals) and converting mixed plastics into valuable co-products.
3. Glass Upcycling and Sodium Silicate Production: Upcycling recycled glass into technical-grade sodium silicate for industries including detergents, water treatment, construction materials, adhesives, pharmaceuticals, and tire manufacturing.
4. Sodium Sulfate Waste Recycling: Recycling services for sodium sulfate waste streams, including management for battery recyclers to produce Lithium Hydroxide for batteries and regenerate sodium hydroxide and sulfuric acid.
5. Carbon Removal Credits: Carbon dioxide removal through direct air capture and mineral carbonation processes, sold via agreements with major carbon removal purchasers.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

EDAC Labs develops and sells its proprietary Electrosynthesizer™ electrochemical cell technology that enables low-energy splitting of brine into acids and bases, producing these chemicals at less than half the cost of conventional chlor-alkali processes. The company leverages this core technology to deliver processing solutions across e-waste refining, glass upcycling, silicate rock processing, lithium recycling, and direct air carbon capture for industrial decarbonization customers.

Product overview

EDAC Labs offers a portfolio of electrochemical and hydrometallurgical products centered on its proprietary Electrosynthesizer technology, which produces low-cost acids and bases via electrochemical splitting of brine. The core Electrosynthesizer enables multiple application-specific products: e-Waste Refinery for critical metals recovery from electronic waste; Silicate Glass Refinery for upcycling recycled glass into sodium silicate; Carbon-Neutral Silicate Rock Refinery for processing ultramafic rocks to produce silica and magnesium; Carbon-Removal with Critical Minerals Extraction combining direct air capture with mineral processing; Lithium Recycling for battery material recovery; and Direct Air Capture for standalone CO2 removal. The company also sells Electrosynthesizer units directly to developers in mining, industrial decarbonization, and other sectors requiring acid/base manufacturing. The portfolio is unified by the shared core technology while offering modular, application-specific processing solutions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Electrosynthesizer Proprietary electrochemical cell system that enables low-energy splitting of brine into acids and bases at less than half the cost of conventional chlor-alkali. Modular and deployable on-site for industrial decarbonization, mining, iron making, industrial waste recycling, and wastewater treatment applications. Sold directly to enterprise developers and used internally for EDAC's processing services.
• e-Waste Refinery Processing service that treats printed circuit boards as high-grade ore for critical metals. Uses a low-temperature catalytic step to strip organics and preserve metals in easy-to-extract forms, followed by EDAC's hydrometallurgy platform to separate metals into copper, tin, battery materials, rare earth elements, and precious metals, while converting mixed plastics into valuable co-products. Sold to e-waste recyclers and battery recyclers.
• Silicate Glass Refinery Upcycling service that converts recycled glass into technical-grade sodium silicate for use in detergents, water treatment, construction materials, adhesives, tire manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and coatings. EDAC is the first company to successfully achieve this transformation, avoiding the 2-4 tons of CO2 per ton emitted by traditional sodium carbonate-based production.
• Carbon-Neutral Silicate Rock Refinery Carbon-neutral mining process that uses electrochemically generated acids and bases to leach and precipitate minerals from ultramafic and mafic rocks, producing 99%+ pure amorphous silica, sodium silicate, precipitated silica, magnesium hydroxide, magnesium oxide, magnesium chloride, and battery materials (MHP). Generates virtually no waste or emissions, offered to mining companies and critical minerals processors.
• Carbon Removal with Critical Minerals Extraction Integrated service using an air contactor combined with EDAC's magnesium refinery to capture CO2 from ambient air and insert it into magnesium hydroxide, creating magnesium carbonate for permanent CO2 sequestration. Theoretically capable of sequestering 4 trillion tons of CO2 using available U.S. ultramafic rock resources. Carbon removal credits sold to corporate purchasers.
• Lithium Recycling Recycling service that uses the Electrosynthesizer to split lithium and sodium salts, managing lithium sulfate and sodium sulfate waste streams from battery recycling to produce lithium hydroxide for batteries while recycling sodium sulfate waste. Offered to battery recyclers seeking closed-loop material recovery.
• Direct Air Capture Standalone CO2 capture service that uses EDAC's Electrosynthesizer to cost-effectively generate acid and base for capturing CO2 from air and releasing it as a pure CO2 stream in a fully mass-balanced process with no waste or emissions. Provides the basis for permanent sequestration through mineral carbonation.

Quantifiable outcome

• Carbon capture capacity target of 1 ton of CO2 per day by end of 2024
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Johns Hopkins UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTechnology originated from research by Professor Chao Wang and PhD student Hao Shen at Johns Hopkins University. Professor Wang serves as Chief Science Officer and Board Member. EDAC was co-founded based on technology from the university, with ongoing research relationship through Principal Investigator roles on DOE, DOD, and NSF projects.
• Frontier (Carbon Removal Initiative)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEDAC Labs was selected by Frontier for carbon removal purchases, enabling agreements with Stripe and Shopify for carbon removal through EDAC's direct air capture and mineral carbonation technology.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Heirloom Carbon: Direct air capture company that uses limestone-based mineralization to permanently sequester CO2 and sells removal credits via Frontier. Closely comparable to EDAC's DAC + mineral carbonation pathway, with a similar go-to-market through voluntary corporate buyers and analogous electrochemical/chemical process stack.
• Aqua Metals: Pioneer in electrochemical metal recovery, focused on lead-acid battery recycling. Most directly comparable to EDAC's e-waste refinery and lithium recycling applications given shared electro-hydrometallurgy foundation and target customers in the metals recycling value chain.
• Charm Industrial: Carbon removal company that converts biomass into bio-oil and sequesters it underground. Sells removal credits through Frontier to enterprise buyers like Stripe and Shopify, putting it in direct competition with EDAC for the same Frontier-driven corporate demand pool.
• CarbonCapture Inc. Direct air capture company developing megaton-scale DAC facilities, including partnerships with major energy and industrial players. Competes with EDAC in the same DAC + permanent sequestration market with similar enterprise sales motion to carbon credit buyers and industrial partners.

Broad incumbents

• Umicore: Global materials technology and recycling group with major operations in precious metals refining, catalyst recycling, and battery materials. The dominant incumbent whose hydrometallurgy processes EDAC's e-waste refinery and lithium recycling applications aim to disrupt.
• Climeworks: Largest direct air capture company globally, with operational DAC plants and partnerships with major oil and gas companies (e.g., Occidental). The leading incumbent in the DAC market EDAC is targeting, though using adsorption rather than electrochemical processes.
• PQ Corporation: World's largest producer of sodium silicate, serving detergents, water treatment, and industrial applications. The dominant incumbent in the $10B sodium silicate market that EDAC's glass upcycling application directly targets for disruption.
• Solvay: Global specialty chemicals company with major operations in soda ash, sodium silicate, and industrial chemicals. A broad incumbent in the chemical manufacturing space where EDAC's electrochemical production of acids and bases competes.

Emerging players

• Li-Cycle: Public lithium-ion battery recycling company using a hydrometallurgical "spoke and hub" model to recover critical battery materials. Closely related to EDAC's lithium recycling application and competing for the same battery recycler customers.
• Redwood Materials: Battery recycling and cathode-active material company founded by JB Straubel. Comparable to EDAC's lithium recycling and critical minerals recovery applications, with significant backing from Panasonic, Tesla, and Ford for closed-loop battery supply chains.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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 EDAC Labs