Orbia Ventures, the venture capital arm of multinational Orbia, recently announced its participation in an investor syndicate backing Verdagy, a green hydrogen developer with new electrolyzer technology to decarbonize industrial processing at scale. The $25 million funding round is led by TDK Ventures with the participation of Orbia Ventures, BHP Ventures, Doral Energy Tech Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Shell Ventures and Temasek. Investment funds will be directed to accelerating development and commercialization of Verdagy’s technology. Orbia joins this group to contribute to big industry’s fight against climate change.

 

Commenting on the funding announcement, Verdagy Chief Executive Officer Marty Neese said, “This round of funding will enable us to scale up our activities and further demonstrate the value of our low-cost, high-throughput electrolyzer technology. I am grateful for the confidence of our investors. And I am invigorated by their broad insights for the use of green hydrogen for decarbonization across multiple end applications as well as their partnership to these ends.”

 

Analysts are now predicting that the global green hydrogen market will reach $89 billion by 2030. Given increased customer demand and current trends of renewable energy costs and electrolyzer prices falling at a rate of 50-60% every five years, Verdagy’s solution is poised to clean up industrial feedstock processing and proliferate clean energy generation.

 

After a spin-out from green chemical company Chemetry in May 2021, Verdagy developed a novel approach to water electrolysis: a process that splits water into hydrogen and oxygen molecules through the use of an electric current. As hydrogen is a clean-burning molecule, its production using renewables yields a truly carbon-free product. While cost has historically limited green hydrogen production, Verdagy’s new membrane-based electrolyzer technology leverages large active area cells, high current densities and broad operating ranges to result in green hydrogen at scale with significantly lower capital investment and operating costs. In addition, Verdagy’s market-leading technology is expected to meet or exceed the U.S. Department of Energy’s targets for electrolysis.

 

Sameer Bharadwaj, Chief Executive Officer of Orbia says, “We believe that green hydrogen at the right scale and cost is key to decarbonizing industrial processing of steel, aluminum, cement and chemicals—and in combination with captured CO2, enables the production of other chemical feedstocks and liquid fuels for marine and aviation applications.” Bharadwaj continues, “Orbia hopes to contribute to Verdagy’s success with its expertise in basic and advanced materials, large-scale chemical processes and a keen focus on decarbonization technologies that support a sustainable future.”

 

“We see green hydrogen electrolysis as the heart of the clean energy revolution,” says Eitan Dekel, Managing Director of Orbia Ventures. “With an outstanding team and strong technology, Verdagy is positioned to take a leading role in a fast growing and massive market. We are fortunate to team up with them and leading investors in supporting this exciting opportunity,” adds Dekel.

 

Through its Ventures arm, Orbia is making correlated investments in food security and growth, water management, infrastructure development, data access, health advancement and sustainable energy, energy storage and decarbonization, with green hydrogen development as a focal area for powering a world where people and planet thrive.