What Hourglass Climate does

Hourglass Climate is a 501(c)(3) non-profit research organization founded in 2024 and headquartered in Los Angeles, California, dedicated to conducting independent, transparent science for the responsible development of marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) through mineral-based Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement (OAE). Its work targets the conversion of CO2 into dissolved alkalinity in seawater via alkaline mineral dissolution using materials such as olivine, basalt, and carbonate minerals — a pathway the organization identifies as having gigatonne-scale, effectively permanent (>10,000 year) carbon removal potential. The organization operates a 14-person interdisciplinary team led by Founder & Executive Director Grace Andrews, PhD, with expertise spanning chemical oceanography, geochemistry, geomorphology, ecotoxicology, and numerical modeling. The organization has been structured as a public charity from inception with no commercial revenue; its operating model is grant and donation funding from a mix of climate-focused foundations (Grantham Foundation, Carbon to Sea Initiative, Greenbridge) and U.S. federal agencies (NOAA), with the organization publishing all findings openly rather than protecting IP for commercial exploitation.

Name

Hourglass Climate

Legal name

Hourglass Climate

Website

https://hourglassclimate.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2024

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Hourglass Climate is a 501(c)(3) non-profit research organization that conducts independent, open-source science on mineral-based Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement for marine carbon dioxide removal, serving regulators, scientific CDR developers, and the research community.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Climate Research / Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal

NAICS

Environmental Consulting Services (541620)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Ocean-Based Carbon Removal (Alkalinity Enhancement, Seaweed, Ocean Biomass Sinking) (EUABAFAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Enhanced Weathering (Rock Milling, Distribution & Field Ops) (EUABAFAE), Enhanced Weathering & Mineralization Projects (Ex-situ/In-situ) (EUABABAK), Mineralization & Carbon-Cured Materials (In-situ/Ex-situ) (EUABAFAD)

Keywords

• Marine carbon removal
• Ocean alkalinity enhancement
• Climate research
• Carbon dioxide removal
• Ecotoxicological modeling

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Grants and Donations: Hourglass Climate is a 501(c)(3) public charity funded through grants and donations. Major funders include Grantham Foundation, NOAA, Greenbridge, Carbon to Sea Initiative, and other mission-aligned organizations. They do not generate commercial revenue from products or services.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Hourglass Climate conducts independent, open-source scientific research on mineral-based Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement (OAE) for marine carbon dioxide removal. It delivers two pillars of work: (1) open-source tools for OAE project planning, permitting, and MRV (including the RADIO reaction transport model and FEMM ecotoxicological framework) and (2) first-of-their-kind field trials (coastal, nearshore, marsh) to ground-truth OAE safety and efficacy, supported by the MARINER Lab's 12 seawater flow-through reactors.

Product overview

Hourglass Climate is a non-profit research organization focused on responsible development of marine carbon dioxide removal through Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement (OAE). The organization operates two main pillars: (1) open-source tool development for OAE project planning, permitting, and MRV, including the RADIO reaction transport model and FEMM ecotoxicological risk assessment framework; and (2) first-of-their-kind field trials including coastal, nearshore, and marsh restoration sites. The MARINER Lab provides laboratory simulation capabilities with 12 seawater flow-through reactors. All work is published openly for transparent, informed decision-making about marine CDR solutions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• RADIO: Sediment reaction transport model that mechanistically predicts alkalinity and cation fluxes resulting from alkaline mineral dissolution on the seafloor.
• FEMM
• MARINER Lab

Products and services

• RADIO Reaction Transport Model An open-source sediment reaction transport model that mechanistically predicts alkalinity and cation fluxes resulting from alkaline mineral dissolution on the seafloor. It is a critical component of MRV methodologies for mineral-based OAE where alkaline feedstock does not fully dissolve in the water column, adapted from the RADI model. Built for use by marine CDR researchers and project developers.
• FEMM (Framework for Ecotoxicological Modeling of mCDR) A structured ecotoxicological risk assessment framework for Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement and other mCDR strategies. It combines established statistical approaches (species sensitivity distributions) with emerging modeling techniques for both risk screening and advanced risk refinement, and is made freely available to researchers.
• MARINER Lab (MARine Innovative Negative Emissions Research) A custom research laboratory facility equipped with 12 seawater flow-through reactors that replicate the seafloor and water column under highly controlled conditions, enabling simulation of marine CDR interventions including direct placement of alkaline minerals on the seafloor and alkalinity addition into the water column.
• Coastal Enhanced Weathering Field Trial The world's first Coastal Enhanced Weathering field trial, conducted in Southampton, NY. Hourglass independently analyzes monitoring program data from Vesta, PBC's deployment of 650 tonnes of olivine sand along ~1,000 ft of Peconic Bay intertidal shoreline, assessing CDR efficacy and environmental impacts with academic collaborators including Cornell, Stony Brook, Dartmouth, Hamilton, and Woods Hole.
• Nearshore Enhanced Weathering Field Trial First-of-its-kind carbon dioxide removal project in Outer Banks, NC involving ~8,200 tonnes of olivine sand placed as a nearshore berm, with Hourglass conducting three-year repeated surveys and independent scientific analysis in collaboration with the Coastal Studies Institute and UNC-Wilmington.
• Marsh Restoration Field Trial A NOAA-funded field trial in Wellfleet, MA that integrates tidal marsh restoration with mineral-based Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement, examining carbon dioxide removal efficiency and safety in collaboration with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Cape Cod Conservation District.
• Field trial monitoring design, execution, and data analysis services Contracted research service in which Hourglass partners with mission-aligned third parties to design, execute, and/or analyze monitoring program data for their marine carbon removal field projects, with findings published peer-reviewed for public benefit.
• Research-grade measurements of carbonate system parameters Research-grade measurements of carbonate system parameters provided from Hourglass's Los Angeles-based analytical facility, supporting OAE and marine CDR research programs.

Quantifiable outcome

• Carbon removal permanence >10,000 years through mineral-based OAE
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Vesta, PBCcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 July 2022Hourglass is independently analyzing monitoring program data from Vesta's first-of-its-kind marine Enhanced Rock Weathering field trials in New York (Peconic Bay) and North Carolina (Duck). Hourglass leads teams of scientific collaborators to assess outcomes for both CDR efficacy and environmental impacts, with findings published peer-review for public benefit.
• Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk CountycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerScientific collaborator on the Coastal Enhanced Weathering Field Trial in Peconic Bay, NY. Part of the team assessing field trial outcomes for CDR efficacy and environmental impacts.
• Stony Brook UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerScientific collaborator on the Coastal Enhanced Weathering Field Trial. Part of the multi-institutional team conducting monitoring and analysis.
• Dartmouth CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerScientific collaborator on the Coastal Enhanced Weathering Field Trial. Part of the team assessing outcomes of the marine ERW project.
• Hamilton CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerScientific collaborator on the Coastal Enhanced Weathering Field Trial in New York. Contributing to the scientific team analysis.
• Woods Hole Oceanographic InstitutioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerScientific collaborator on the Coastal Enhanced Weathering Field Trial. Part of the multi-institutional team for monitoring program data analysis.
• Coastal Studies InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborator on the Nearshore Enhanced Weathering Field Trial in North Carolina. Located near the project site in the Outer Banks.
• UNC-Wilmington (Department of Biology & Marine Biology)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborator on the Nearshore Enhanced Weathering Field Trial. Contributing scientific expertise to the monitoring program.
• Woods Hole Oceanographic InstitutioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborator on the NOAA-funded Marsh Restoration Field Trial in Wellfleet, MA. Partner in the multi-institutional effort combining tidal marsh restoration with mineral-based OAE.
• Cape Cod Conservation DistrictcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborator on the Marsh Restoration Field Trial in Wellfleet, MA. Partner in integrating tidal marsh restoration with mineral-based ocean alkalinity enhancement.
• Southern California Marine InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHouses the MARINER Lab (MARine Innovative Negative Emissions Research) - home to Hourglass's custom state-of-the-art system for marine biogeochemistry experiments with 12 seawater flow-through reactors.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Terradot: Terradot deploys enhanced rock weathering on agricultural land using ground silicate rock. While terrestrial rather than marine, it is a directly comparable enhanced-weathering CDR developer with the same feedstock chemistry and MRV challenges Hourglass addresses for marine contexts.
• Planetary Hydrogen: Planetary Hydrogen produces green hydrogen via electrochemical ocean alkalinity enhancement, generating carbon removal as a co-product. Its OAE-first approach mirrors the chemistry Hourglass studies and benefits from the same MRV and field-trial datasets.
• SeaO2 Energy: SeaO2 Energy is an early-stage ocean CDR developer exploring electrochemical alkalinity addition. Its science needs and operational footprint overlap with Hourglass's research remit, making it a relevant emerging mCDR peer.
• Captura: Captura is an ocean CDR company that uses an electrochemical process to directly extract dissolved CO2 from seawater. It is comparable to Hourglass as a marine-CDR technology developer pursuing gigatonne-scale removal with overlapping need for independent MRV and ecotoxicology science.
• Running Tide: Running Tide develops ocean-based carbon removal using sinking kelp biomass and macroalgae. Although it uses a different removal pathway than Hourglass, both operate in marine CDR deployment science and target voluntary carbon markets with similar offtake customers.
• Ebb Carbon: Ebb Carbon is one of the most prominent venture-backed Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement developers, using an electrochemical process to extract CO2 from seawater while adding alkalinity. It is a directly comparable mCDR counterpart to Hourglass's mineral-based OAE research mandate.
• Equatic: Equatic builds and operates OAE plants that dissolve alkalinity into seawater while producing green hydrogen, capturing CO2 permanently. Its scale-up of mineral/electrochemical OAE is directly comparable to the science Hourglass develops for the same pathway.
• Vesta, PBC: Vesta, PBC is the for-profit marine Enhanced Rock Weathering developer whose olivine deployments (Peconic Bay NY and Duck NC) Hourglass independently monitors. Both organizations are tightly coupled around mineral-based marine CDR but sit on different sides of the deployment-vs-research boundary.
• Lithos Carbon: Lithos Carbon deploys basalt-based enhanced rock weathering on land and in coastal contexts to drive permanent carbon removal. It is directly comparable to Hourglass's mineral-based OAE focus from the deployment-project side, with overlapping feedstock and chemistry stack.

Broad incumbents

• Carbon to Sea Initiative: Carbon to Sea Initiative is a multi-stakeholder coalition and Hourglass funder that accelerates research and deployment of ocean-based CDR. As a broad industry coalition, it is comparable as an ecosystem shaper rather than a direct research/deployment competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hourglass-climate

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Hourglass Climate