Bart de Vries, partner at Deloitte, explains how Deloitte supports start-ups and scale-ups: “We work with founders and their CFOs across a broad range of services. We take care of compliance, and when there’s a need to scale up or attract European funding we can assist with that too. We also provide practical support on bookkeeping, tax and regulatory filings.” 

Carbyon combines speed and scalability to remove CO₂ from the atmosphere more quickly and on a larger scale in the fight against climate change. While other companies take years to filter CO₂ from the atmosphere, Carbyon delivers results more quickly. 

The challenge: staying focused while scaling up 

Reinier Zoomers, CFO of Carbyon, describes the heart of their challenge: “To achieve our mission we will need partners with experience in the mass production of these devices. For us, the art will be to remain focused on what we do well and to attract partners who can help with various support services.” 

This is exactly where Deloitte’s expertise proved valuable. Lars Mulder, Senior Manager, Global Investments and Innovation Incentives (Gi3) at Deloitte, took the lead: “Together with my team I looked for opportunities for financial support from the European Commission. That resulted in an application for the EIC Accelerator grant. In addition, we identified potential collaboration partners for Carbyon.” 

The solution: operational rigour and strategic support 

Zoomers describes how the collaboration worked in practice: “We are moving into the next phase, from the lab to a manufacturing facility. For that reason we transferred our entire accounting function to Deloitte. This has given us deeper insight, including in reporting, so we can better manage financial progress. And the whole control framework is now set up on a four‑eyes principle for all invoices.” 

How Deloitte works differently with scale-ups 

De Vries emphasises Deloitte’s approach: “Start‑ups and scale‑ups are relatively small, agile organisations. We adapt the way we work to suit them - using shorter lines of communication, responding quickly and delivering concrete solutions. The trick is to bring the right colleagues to the table from our side, people with a genuine entrepreneurial spirit.” 

This entrepreneurship and flexibility were essential and exactly what Deloitte’s team delivered for Carbyon. Zoomers explains what made the difference: “Deloitte appointed a single, clear point of contact - someone who is involved overall and keeps an eye on the big picture. They really understand what we do and think for themselves: what type of company is this, which stage are we at, where should the focus be? Not a long English‑language report, but a very concrete identification of the three main issues. That’s what made the difference.”