November 21, 2022 • Paul Rodden • Season: 2022 • Episode: 165
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Welcome to The Hydrogen Podcast!
In episode 165, Syzygy Plasmonics announces a massive Series C fundraising round. And a hydrogen hypercar company reinvents the fueling station. All of this on today’s hydrogen podcast.
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Transcript:
Syzygy Plasmonics announces a massive Series C fundraising round. And a hydrogen hypercar company reinvents the fueling station. All of this on today’s hydrogen podcast.
So the big questions in the energy industry today are, how is hydrogen the primary driving force behind the evolution of energy? Where is capital being deployed for hydrogen projects globally? And where are the best investment opportunities for early adopters who recognize the importance of hydrogen? I will address the critical issues and give you the information you need to deploy capital. Those are the questions that will unlock the potential of hydrogen and this podcast will give you the answers. My name is Paul Rodden, and welcome to the hydrogen podcast.
In a press release on November 16, Syzygy plasmonics raises $76 million Series C, led by carbon Direct Capital to accelerate delivery of low carbon hydrogen technology subsidy plasmonics a deep decarbonisation company that is electrifying chemical manufacturing announced a $76 million Series C financing led by carbon Direct Capital with participation from Aramco ventures Chevron Technology Ventures, Lotte Chemical and Toyota ventures, existing investors including EVOC innovations, the engine equinor Ventures, Goose capital, Horizon ventures, Pan American energy, and Sumitomo Corporation of America has also joined in the round, carbon Direct Capital will join the Syzygy board and serve as the Series C director.
The capital raised will fund further development and delivery of an all electric reactor system that eliminates fossil based combustion from chemical manufacturing and reduce the carbon intensity of hydrogen, methanol and fuel. Rather than rely on thermal energy synergy plasmonics harnesses the power of light to energize chemical reactions. This approach is designed to reduce feedstock waste while producing fewer emissions When powered by renewable electricity. Select series C participants have also entered into commercial agreements with Syzygy to support their decarbonisation goals. The International Energy Agency reported in its global hydrogen review 2022 That producing 94 million metric tons of hydrogen and 2021 released 900 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. The IEA estimates that hydrogen production must double by 2030 for the world to stay on track for net zero emissions by 2050. With roughly 60% of that being from low carbon production, widely available low carbon low cost hydrogen is necessary to increase its adoption and contribution to the achievement of climate goals. Syzygy technology combines two major recent breakthroughs to reduce emissions in chemical manufacturing. The first was the invention of highperformance photocatalysts at Rice University by company co founders and professors Naomi Halas and Peter Nordlander. The second was the engineering of a novel reactor that uses common low cost materials like glass, aluminum and LEDs instead of high cost metal alloys.
The result is a scalable, universal chemical reactor platform that is designed to utilize different feedstocks to drive multiple fundamental chemical reactions. Several field trials have been initiated with commercial units scheduled to ship and 2023 and a quote from syzygy plasmonics, CEO and co founder Trevor Best, our mission is to decarbonize chemical and fuel production. Syzygy’s aim is to achieve one giga ton of carbon emissions reductions by 2040. And the Series C financing is a key milestone and building toward that goal, closing this fundraising round with such strong support from financial and strategic investors and with commercial agreements in hand as a signal to the market forward thinking companies have moved beyond setting decarbonisation goals to executing on them. Syzygy is unique in that we’re developing low cost low carbon solutions to offer across multiple industries. And in a quote from CTO and co founder Suman Khatiwada. Syzygy is hyper focused on aligning energy technology and sustainability. The projects we’re developing are targeting zero emissions hydrogen from Green ammonia, low emissions, hydrogen from combustion, free steam, methane reforming, and sustainable fuels made from carbon dioxide and methane. This technology is the future of chemical manufacturing. Now since it is universal reactor platform has attracted support from multiple international investors and partners with operations spanning the US Asia and Europe. Carbon Direct Capital, a growth equity firm focused on carbon management technology led the funding round. And in a quote from carbon Direct Capital CEO Jonathan Goldberg, we are very attracted to the multiple use cases for the synergy reactor and the lifetime value of each synergy customer emissions from hydrogen production in total more than 900 million metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. Syzygy’s photo catalysis technology is a key solution to decarbonize hydrogen production as well as other critical industries.
Syzygy is home to world class chemists and engineers focused on decarbonizing hard to abate chemical operations. The company employs more than 80 people and anticipates doubling its workforce over the next year as it expands its commercial offerings. Now previously, Syzygy raised more than $35 million and secured Department of Energy, ARPA E, and National Science Foundation SBIR program grants. Okay, so right off the bat, a huge congratulations to Syzygy. And the entire team there, a $76 million Series C raise is huge. Now for those of you listeners that don’t know, we here at the podcast, had the honor of interviewing Trevor best a few months ago. And since then, I’ve been able to have a few other conversations with him. And I can guarantee you this, Trevor and the entire team there are some of the most genuinely good hearted people you will ever meet. They have a real passion for what they’re doing, both in terms of progressing the technology that they’re using forward. But they also know that they have identified and are building out a technology that is going to legitimately change the energy landscape. And I actually have a pretty funny story about Trevor. He and I were having lunch a couple of weeks ago, discussing some future project opportunities when he has to stop and pull away for a second due to a flurry of emails that he’s getting. And when he comes back, he has this big smile on his face and he won’t tell me what’s happening, other than to say, just keep my eyes peeled for the news. I can only imagine this was what he was talking about. And so Trevor again for me to you, congratulations, well deserved.
And lastly in a small press release on November 15. Hyperion to showcase hydrogen refueling station at LA Auto Show. Hyperion motors will be showcasing is spaceship inspired XP, one hypercar for the first time on a world stage at automobility la November 17. At the Los Angeles Convention Center, this hydrogen powered vehicle incorporates NASA hydrogen technologies to deliver over 2000 horsepower to four axial flux electric motors. Additionally, and here’s the interesting thing, Hyperion will globally launch it’s x F seven hyper fuel power station. This space station inspired charger utilizes several NASA technologies to refuel hydrogen and battery electric vehicles. Because hydrogen ions can store mass amounts of electricity, this station can easily charge battery and fuel cell systems. Beyond this XF seven can also provide utility grid support for emergency and backup power applications. Hyperion will exhibit its future product line showcasing the complete h2 ecosystem, starting with solar power to generate hydrogen and ending with electrically powered vehicles with water vapor exhaust. All company products are inspired by space travel and utilize NASA technologies. Okay, now, if you haven’t seen the XP one, I highly recommend looking at it. Even if you’re not a car person.
It’s inspiring to see. But the real thing I think to focus in on is this XF seven hyper fuel power station. And one of the reasons I think it’s so interesting is that I’ve had discussions with other large companies and fuel cell manufacturers who are thinking along these same lines, combining fuel cells and hydrogen tanks on a mobile application and use it for vehicle refueling or grid support. And one of the ways I think that’s brilliant is because that helps to really alleviate the pain point of having fueling stations in more dense metropolitan areas. All right. That’s it for me, everyone. If you have a second, I would really appreciate it. If you could leave a good review on whatever platform it is that you listen to Apple podcasts, Spotify, Google, YouTube, whatever it is, that will be a tremendous help to the show. And as always, if you ever have any feedback, you’re welcome to email me directly at info@thehydrogenpodcast.com
And as always, take care. Stay safe. I’ll talk to you later. Hey, this is Paul. I hope you liked this podcast. If you did and want to hear more, I’d appreciate it if you would either subscribe to this channel on YouTube, or connect with your favorite platform through my website at www.thehydrogenpodcast.com. Thanks for listening. I very much appreciate it. Have a great day.
