The world’s first clean-hydrogen investment fund “may face a significant challenge” after raising less than half of the capital it sought in its initial public offering (IPO).

HydrogenOne Capital Growth sought to raise £250 million ($348 million) from investors, but only raised £107.35 million, just above the minimum need of £100 million. The business is set to begin trading on the London Stock Exchange on 30 July, with net proceeds of around £105.2 million from the offering.

“The funding gap highlights the difficulty providers are having launching investment trusts in certain areas, even those as hot as clean energy, because investors aren’t willing to take the leap of faith that the trusts will start trading on a premium when they launch on the market,” said Laith Khalaf, financial analyst at asset manager AJ Bell.

Jayna Rana, analyst at financial data firm Quoted Data, said: “Hydrogen is likely to play a vital role in both energy storage and fuel for heavy transport and industry and so is becoming increasingly important. However, if there is any initial disappointment within the portfolio and the trust goes to a discount, it could face a real challenge.”

“This IPO marks the start for the first London-listed fund dedicated to the clean hydrogen sector,” said HydrogenOne chaieman Simon Hogan.

“HydrogenOne is for energy investors who want to move beyond net zero now, not later, and deploy substantial growth capital into the solutions underpinning the energy transition.”