ArcelorMittal announced that it has made a USD 5 million investment in H2Pro through its XCarb innovation fund. The investment is part of a USD 75 million Series B fundraise by H2Pro, with other investors including Temasek, Horizons Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Yara. H2Pro is developing a disruptive way of producing hydrogen from water. Similar to electrolysis, its technology Electrochemical Thermally Activated Chemical, E-TAC, uses electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Unlike conventional electrolysis however, hydrogen and oxygen are generated separately in different steps an Electrochemical step and a Thermally Activated Chemical step.The technology was developed at Technion, Israel Institute of Technology. E-TAC water splitting offers energy efficiency of over 95%, significantly higher than traditional water electrolysis technologies which typically deliver energy efficiency of around 70%. E-TAC is also expected to prove more cost effective than traditional electrolysis, with CAPEX costs anticipated to be broadly halved, alongside lower operational costs. H2Pro is targeting producing hydrogen at a cost of under US$2/kg by 2023, when its first commercial, megawatt scale project is anticipated to move into production and at a cost of under USD 1 per kg by 2030.H2Pro was founded in 2019 by three leading hydrogen experts from Technion, Dr Hen Dotan, Professor Gideon Grader and Professor Avner Rothschild and Talmon Marco. Talmon previously co-founded Viber, a messaging app which was acquired by Rakuten Inc for USD 900 million in 2014, and co-founded and led ride-hailing app Juno until it was bought by Gett Inc. for USD 200 million in 2017.H2Pro is the fifth investment ArcelorMittal has made through its XCarb innovation fund, bringing the fund’s total investment commitments to USD 180 million since its launch in March 2021.The Company has previously invested1. An initial USD 10 million in Heliogen, a renewable energy technology company that focuses on ‘unlocking the power of sunlight to replace fossil fuels’, supplemented by a further USD 10 million investment at the time of Heliogen’s recent IPO.2. USD 25 million in Form Energy, which is developing a breakthrough low-cost iron-air battery storage technology.3. USD30 million in LanzaTech, a carbon recycling company with which ArcelorMittal has a EUR 180 million carbon capture and re-use project underway at its steel plant in Ghent in Belgium.4. Committed USD 100 million over five years in Breakthrough Energy’s Catalyst program, an initiative Bill Gates founded to scale the technologies the world needs to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
ArcelorMittal announced that it has made a USD 5 million investment in H2Pro through its XCarb innovation fund. The investment is part of a USD 75 million Series B fundraise by H2Pro, with other investors including Temasek, Horizons Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Yara. H2Pro is developing a disruptive way of producing hydrogen from water. Similar to electrolysis, its technology Electrochemical Thermally Activated Chemical, E-TAC, uses electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Unlike conventional electrolysis however, hydrogen and oxygen are generated separately in different steps an Electrochemical step and a Thermally Activated Chemical step.The technology was developed at Technion, Israel Institute of Technology. E-TAC water splitting offers energy efficiency of over 95%, significantly higher than traditional water electrolysis technologies which typically deliver energy efficiency of around 70%. E-TAC is also expected to prove more cost effective than traditional electrolysis, with CAPEX costs anticipated to be broadly halved, alongside lower operational costs. H2Pro is targeting producing hydrogen at a cost of under US$2/kg by 2023, when its first commercial, megawatt scale project is anticipated to move into production and at a cost of under USD 1 per kg by 2030.H2Pro was founded in 2019 by three leading hydrogen experts from Technion, Dr Hen Dotan, Professor Gideon Grader and Professor Avner Rothschild and Talmon Marco. Talmon previously co-founded Viber, a messaging app which was acquired by Rakuten Inc for USD 900 million in 2014, and co-founded and led ride-hailing app Juno until it was bought by Gett Inc. for USD 200 million in 2017.H2Pro is the fifth investment ArcelorMittal has made through its XCarb innovation fund, bringing the fund’s total investment commitments to USD 180 million since its launch in March 2021.The Company has previously invested1. An initial USD 10 million in Heliogen, a renewable energy technology company that focuses on ‘unlocking the power of sunlight to replace fossil fuels’, supplemented by a further USD 10 million investment at the time of Heliogen’s recent IPO.2. USD 25 million in Form Energy, which is developing a breakthrough low-cost iron-air battery storage technology.3. USD30 million in LanzaTech, a carbon recycling company with which ArcelorMittal has a EUR 180 million carbon capture and re-use project underway at its steel plant in Ghent in Belgium.4. Committed USD 100 million over five years in Breakthrough Energy’s Catalyst program, an initiative Bill Gates founded to scale the technologies the world needs to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
