Company: NEG8 Carbon
Sector: Climate Technology / Direct Air Capture
Hub: WorkLAB, Waterford (with Kinetic Labs facilities)

About NEG8 Carbon

NEG8 Carbon is an Irish climate technology company tackling one of the world’s greatest challenges: reducing CO2 in the atmosphere. Its direct air capture (DAC) technology extracts carbon dioxide directly from the air, with potential applications across multiple industries. Captured CO2 can be permanently stored in geological formations or reused in building materials, sustainable aviation fuels, and even food and beverage products.

Founded in 2014 in Trinity College Dublin, NEG8 Carbon spun out in 2021 to WorkLAB in Waterford, choosing the hub for its unique access to specialist laboratory facilities and its proximity to world-class research and industry partners.

Why WorkLAB, Waterford?

NEG8 Carbon’s R&D demands highly serviced, fully equipped lab space. WorkLAB, located in the IDA Business Park, offered exactly that through Kinetic Labs – a state-of-the-art facility providing temperature-controlled environments, advanced equipment, and direct connectivity to research institutions and industry.

This strategic move meant NEG8 Carbon could:

• Accelerate growth without heavy upfront capital costs of building labs.
• Collaborate closely with neighbouring pharmaceutical and life sciences companies in the same park.
• Tap into research excellence, with Southeast Technological University (SETU), the Walton Institute, and other centres of excellence all within walking distance.

“The WorkLAB environment allows companies to flex and grow, with the right connectivity and without significant capital expenditure. For R&D-driven businesses like ours, that’s transformational… It’s crucial that there is a platform in an area like this with such a strong economy to be able to bring in early stage, small, medium sized companies, to enable them to thrive.”– Gráinne Moynihan, CFO

Impact of the Hub Environment

From one hot desk in 2021, NEG8 Carbon has grown into a team of 12 – half of them PhDs, many from overseas – and now operates from a serviced office, warehousing space, and Kinetic Labs for ongoing R&D.

The hub has delivered multiple benefits:

• Professional environment: Modern meeting rooms and common areas to host investors, partners, and stakeholders.
• Flexibility to scale: Smooth progression from hot desk → office → warehouse without disruption. All with reduced overheads and less need to invest time in dealing with the complexities of having your own facility.
• Community & ecosystem: Easy access to state-funded facilities, research collaborations, and enterprise supports (including Enterprise Ireland innovation vouchers).
• Talent attraction: Waterford’s quality of life – beaches, mountains, and a growing city economy – makes it easier to recruit international researchers and graduates.

Why It Matters

NEG8 Carbon’s story shows how specialist hubs like WorkLAB can be the launchpad for globally significant innovation. By removing the burden of running standalone facilities and embedding start-ups into a supportive ecosystem, hubs give ambitious founders the freedom to focus on what matters: developing breakthrough solutions and building high-value teams.

“Nobody ever built a big company without starting small. WorkLAB gave us the foundation to grow our vision into reality. Finding a partner like WorkLAB has been really important in releasing the potential of all the brilliance that is in that organisation, especially the innovation of the ideas of the original founders.” – Gráinne Moynihan

✅ Key Takeaway: For knowledge-intensive SMEs, hubs are not just workspaces – they are strategic growth platforms, blending infrastructure, networks, and location advantages to help businesses scale faster.