Norwegian firm Hystar has announced it has carried out a Series B funding round to rapidly scale-up green hydrogen production to full commercial operations with an automated GW-capacity production line by 2025.
The injection of of US$26m (€24.2m) capital, raised through equity, will also be used to fuel Oslo-headquartered Hystar’s growth, expansion into new markets, and ability to deliver on 100MW and beyond projects.
The round was co-led by AP Ventures and Mitsubishi Corporation.
Additional investors in the round included Finindus, Nippon Steel Trading, Hillhouse Investment and Trustbridge Partners alongside existing investors SINTEF Ventures and Firda.
Hystar’s PEM electrolysers have been designed for mass manufacturing from the very beginning, Hystar said.
The ultra-efficient design, which is patented and unique to Hystar, boasts a 90% thinner membrane than conventional electrolysers, enabling the production of up to 150% more green hydrogen, it added.
Hystar chief executive Fredrik Mowill said: “Since our inception, we have been committed to rapidly scaling up to ensure the widespread commercial deployment of our game-changing technology.
“We are therefore excited to have closed our Series B funding round with such high-quality industrial and financial investors who can contribute to accelerating our growth.
“We look forward to working with our new shareholders to explore joint opportunities to deploy green hydrogen projects at scale.
“We’re also very happy that our existing shareholders, with AP Ventures in the lead, have continued their strong support of Hystar.”
Charlie Clark, investment manager at AP Ventures, added: “We have been hugely impressed by the technical results and growth that Hystar has delivered over the past few years.
“We are pleased to have co-led this Series B funding round alongside Mitsubishi Corporation to enable Hystar to deploy automated capacity to scale the production of its world-leading PEM electrolyser technology.
“We look forward to continuing to support Hystar as it works to produce ultra-efficient green hydrogen which will be vital to support global efforts to decarbonize industry and society.”