Israeli hydrogen start-up raises $22M in the third round

H2Pro, an Israeli green hydrogen technology start-up, raises € 18.5 million (US$ 22 million) in the third investment round from several investors, included Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures.

In the third round, the Breakthrough Energy Ventures invested € 5.3 million (US$ 6.3 million), Horizons Ventures investment was € 1.65 million (US$ million), and Ignitis Innovation Fund invested € 430k (US$ 0.5 million).

Investors are increasingly looking for early-stage energy start-ups working on decarbonisation solutions. The interest has been growing, particularly in green hydrogen technologies.

H2PRO was founded in 2019 by hydrogen experts from the Technion (Israel Institute of Technology). It aims to cut the production costs of renewable hydrogen production to fossil fuel-derived levels in the coming years.

The start-up is developing a hydrogen production technology called E-TAC (Electrochemical-Thermally Activated Chemical). E-TAC uses electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. However, hydrogen and oxygen are generated separately in different steps – an Electrochemical (E) step and a Thermally-Activated Chemical (TAC) step.

In the E-TAC, the water-splitting process occurs in a membrane-free cell, which has several advantages, including lower material and assembly costs and lower maintenance costs. The technology claims to produce 30% more hydrogen compared to the traditional electrolysis per kWh. The technology can be used in heavy emission industries such as cement, fertiliser and oil refineries.