Hystar, a Norwegian manufacturer of hydrogen, had raised $26 million in finance, from Mitsubishi and Nippon Steel Trading, two Japanese industrial conglomerates.
According to Fredrik Mowill, chief executive of Hystar, Mitsubishi Corporation and AP Ventures, a current investor from London, jointly led the investment round.
He noted that the two businesses together accounted for nearly half of the funds raised.
In order to help the business thrive, he said, “We wanted to bring along some really major multinational industrial investors that could not only invest capital but that can also help build the business.”
This also included the two Japanese companies as well as the Belgian investment business Finindus, which is 50% controlled by the steel producer ArcelorMittal.
All three companies, according to him, have ambitious aspirations to use green hydrogen and may be significant customers.
Toshihiro Hayashi, general manager of Mitsubishi’s mineral resources group, said in a statement that “green hydrogen is one of the core areas for Mitsubishi Corporation and we believe Hystar’s unique technology has the potential to greatly impact its large-scale deployment.”
In the most recent funding round, financial institutions Hillhouse Investment and Trustbridge Partners also participated.
Electrolysers use electricity to split water to create green hydrogen, which enables the decarbonization of otherwise difficult-to-abate industrial sectors.
According to Hystar, its technology is simple to scale up and will use 10% less energy than devices that are currently on the market.
According to Mowill, the additional funding will support the establishment of an automated production line, sales and marketing activities, and staff expansion, as Hystar seeks to double its current personnel count of 30.
In addition, the business is engaged in a pilot project to produce green ammonia with help from local partners Yara and Equinor.
