Green hydrogen technology company Hysata has raised $42.5 million in an oversubscribed Series A round as it looks to develop a gigawatt scale manufacturing plant to house its innovative proprietary electrolyser technology.
The round, which Virescent Ventures led on behalf of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), garnered support from several renowned global investors including Kiko Ventures from the UK, Vestas Ventures from Denmark and Australian investors IP Group Australia, Hostplus and BlueScope (through its ventures arm BlueScopeX).
With the potential to meet up to 20 per cent of global energy demand, green hydrogen is fast emerging as a crucial component in efforts to reach a net zero economy and is attracting interest from the likes of Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest and LINE Hydrogen - which opened up to equity crowdfunding in June.
Hysata uses breakthrough technology developed at the University of Wollongong to achieve 95 per cent efficiency in its patented capillary-fed electrolysis cells, which provides a significant leap in performance and cost over incumbent technologies, which typically operate at 75 per cent or less.
“Our mission is to redefine the economics of green hydrogen production through our innovative proprietary electrolyser technology. The support of this international syndicate of clean energy practitioners and investors validates our core technology and our approach to scaling and mass manufacture,” Hysata CEO Paul Barrett said.
“Green hydrogen is a vital energy vector on the world’s path to net zero, critical to decarbonising the hard-to-abate, yet vital, sectors of our economy such as steelmaking, heavy transport, and the chemical industry. The extensive end use cases for green hydrogen translate to a greater than trillion-dollar market opportunity.
“Over the last 12-18 months, Hysata has been interacting with dozens of major customers globally. The impact our efficiency and system simplicity delivers to customers’ project economics truly moves the needle. We look forward to continuing to work with our shareholders and customers to bring this much-needed technology to market as soon as possible.”
Launched in 2021 with $5 million in seed funding from lead investor IP Group Australia and supported by CEFC, Hysata is developing a new type of hydrogen electrolyser – which uses electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen and is viewed as the key technology for producing green hydrogen.
Hysata’s technology has the potential to shift the economics of green hydrogen production, bringing $2 a kilogram of green hydrogen within reach and accelerating the global transition to net zero emissions.
CEFC CEO Ian Learmonth said that backing a company like Hysata and its cutting-edge electrolyser technology was vital in helping to grow Australia’s clean technology ecosystem.
“The CEFC is proud to continue our support for Hysata, which is set to be a major player in the global electrolyser industry,” he said.
“Green hydrogen will be essential to addressing the hardest to abate sources of emissions, and we’re excited to see Australian ingenuity providing the technology solutions that will help this industry reach scale.
“The CEFC has a strong focus on hydrogen-related investments through both our Innovation and Advancing Hydrogen Funds and we are delighted to see Hysata continue to advance hydrogen to help meet future energy needs and reduce emissions in more sectors of the Australian economy.”
The CEFC investment was made through its specialist Clean Energy Innovation Fund, which Virescent Ventures manage.
“Hysata continues to make rapid progress, and we are pleased to support such an innovative company with an outstanding team. The continued growth of Hysata is an important pointer to the enormous potential of hydrogen to our net zero future,” Virescent Ventures Partner Blair Pritchard said.
IP Group Australia’s managing director Michael Molinari believes Hysata has assembled a world-leading team to bring its capillary-fed electrolyser to market.
“We’re proud to have supported the company from before inception at the University of Wollongong to now redefining the economics of green hydrogen with their electrolyser that is set to scale,” he said.
Kiko Ventures founding partner Robert Trezona said that having assessed scores of electrolyser technologies in his 20 years in cleantech, Hysata’s technology stood out as a true breakthrough.
“The company has redefined the core cell architecture for alkaline electrolysis, producing a practical and scalable solution with game-changing efficiency,” he said.
“Hysata has the potential to be a globally significant company in the hydrogen economy, and we look forward to supporting its growth, especially here in Europe.”
Vestas Ventures head Todd O’Neill said he was delighted to have been invited to invest in the business.
“As the venture capital arm of the global leader in sustainable energy solutions, Vestas Ventures foresees great potential in combining wind power with electrolysers for green hydrogen production,” he said.
“Nurturing disruptive renewable technologies is central to our investment strategy, and we look forward to following Hysata’s success over the coming years,” he added.
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