Locations
Deep Sky’s chief science and commercial officer Phil De Luna announced Monday morning he has left his post at the Montreal-based carbon removal startup, with an eye to starting his own initiative in the nascent industry.
“I’ve reached a point where I’m ready to take on a new challenge. I’ve outgrown my current role, and it’s time to stretch again — to build something new I own, from the ground up,” he said in a LinkedIn post.
De Luna joined the company in June 2023 as its chief carbon scientist and head of engineering, his priority being the development of its test site in Innisfail, Alta. named Deep Sky Alpha. There, Deep Sky plans to test several technologies that remove carbon from the air, and move to commercialize the concepts.
Construction on the facility was finished in June.
He then transitioned to his most recent role in January, where he led its commercialization and revenue teams. De Luna helped secure offtake agreements with Microsoft and RBC to remove 10,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide, and built a sales pipeline of over $300 million, according to his LinkedIn page.
A research scientist with a doctorate in materials science and engineering from the University of Toronto, De Luna was the youngest director of the National Research Council of Canada at the age of 27. He was named by Forbes in its 30 Under 30 list for energy in 2019.
Prior to joining Deep Sky, he was a sustainability expert at consultancy McKinsey & Company. De Luna also dipped a toe in politics as a Green Party candidate for the Toronto-St. Paul’s district in the 2021 federal election.
He is the second major figure from Deep Sky to leave the company in recent months. In May, former CEO Damien Steel vacated his role and was replaced by Alex Petre, the former COO.
De Luna’s stepping stone
De Luna said Deep Sky’s co-founders Frederic Lalonde and Joost Ouwerkerk recruited him to lead its carbon removal program, an opportunity that would let him learn how to “build a billion-dollar business while you teach us about the science.”
If he was interested in starting his own company, Lalonde and Ouwerkerk would support his dream, De Luna recounted in an interview with Sustainable Biz Canada in 2024.
“More than anything, I came to Deep Sky to learn how to build a company. I’ve grown as a leader, a builder, and a bridge between science and business,” he wrote in his post announcing his departure.
De Luna argues carbon removal will be critical to balancing out the greenhouse gas emissions from hard-to-abate sectors such as oil and gas, steel, cement and fertilizers.
Industry Events
Toronto Metro Hall
Locations
