Phil de Luna
Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer @CURA
Signup · Get unlimited contacts
WORK HISTORY
Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer @CURA
Toronto, ON, CA
Co-founder leading technology development, R&D, and scale-up engineering of CURA\'s proprietary low-voltage electrolyzer technology to eliminate process emissions from lime and cement production
EDUCATION
University of California, Berkeley
Visiting Scholar, Chemistry
University of Ottawa
Master of Science (MS), Chemistry
University of Toronto
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Materials Science and Engineering
University of Windsor
Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.), Honours Chemistry with Thesis
SKILLS
ABOUT PHIL DE LUNA
Phil De Luna is the co-founder and CTO of CURA, a Canadian climate-tech startup decarbonizing cement through breakthrough electrochemical innovation. CURA is developing proprietary low-voltage electrolyzer technology to eliminate process emissions from lime and cement production—responsible for 8% of global emissions.Previously, Phil served as Chief Science and Commercial Officer at Deep Sky, where he helped raise $100 million to scale direct air capture technologies, designed and built the Deep Sky Alpha plant in under a year, and secured multi-million-dollar carbon credit offtakes.Before joining Deep Sky, he led carbontech within McKinsey & Company’s Sustainability Practice, as the first Canadian hire in the McKinsey Platform for Climate Technologies. There, he advised investors, corporates, and innovators—ranging from airlines to sovereign wealth funds—on deploying emerging carbon removal and utilization technologies.Earlier in his career, Phil was the youngest-ever Director at the National Research Council of Canada, where he built and led a $57 million R&D program advancing Canada-made transformative technologies to help achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.He has served as Chair of the Board of Carbon Management Canada, and as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto, where he ranks in the top 0.1% of highly cited researchers globally in materials science. A lifelong science-driven entrepreneur, Phil previously co-founded a carbontech startup that raised $2 million in non-dilutive funding and became a Finalist (1 of 10 globally) in the $20 million Carbon XPRIZE. He is also a founding Mentor at Creative Destruction Lab, supporting science-based startups in the Matter and Climate streams.Phil ran as a Green Party candidate for Member of Parliament in 2021, leading a team of over 120 volunteers, raising and placing among the top 5% of Green Party candidates nationally.Honours and Recognition• Youngest Director in NRC’s > 100-year history• Forbes 30 Under 30 (Energy)• Forbes “Best of Canada” Top 30 Innovators• Globe & Mail Top 50 Changemaker• BetaKit Most Ambitious Founder• Toronto Life Top 25 Rising Star• Clean50 Emerging Leader• GreenBiz 30 Under 30• Bay Street Bull 30×30• Corporate Knights Top 30 Under 30• Mission Innovation Champion for Canada• Finalist – $20 M Carbon XPRIZE (1 of 10 globally)• Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher• 2× TEDx Speaker• Action Canada Fellow• Massey College Fellow• Governor General Gold Medalist• Member – Royal Society of Canada• Member – Institute of Corporate Directors
This profile is compiled from publicly available professional sources. Unifers is not affiliated with or endorsed by LinkedIn. Request removal of this profile.