Hgen, a company that makes clean hydrogen to decarbonize heavy industry, announced the closing of a $5 million seed financing round. Seven Seven Six led the round, including Founders Fund and Fontinalis Partners. Hgen will use this funding to accelerate the commercial deployment of its technology at customer sites.
Launched in 2021, Hgen seeks to decarbonize this massive market by producing clean hydrogen from water and electricity via its alkaline electrolyzers — a class of electrolyzer technology with the lowest cost floor and best positioned to achieve clean hydrogen’s cost targets.
Hgen developed an alkaline electrolyzer with a 20 times higher volumetric power density compared to conventional alkaline electrolyzers, resulting in a 20 times smaller system that can produce the same amount of hydrogen. This high power density is unlocked by Hgen’s hydrogen-generating cells, which are 9% more efficient and 6x thinner than standard alkaline cells. This translates to a more compact and lower-cost electrolyzer.
With early support from Breakthrough Energy Fellows, Hgen has scaled its technology from a benchtop prototype to an industrial scale demonstration running at its Hawthorne facility. And the company is now focused on deploying its technology at customer sites.
KEY QUOTES:
“Electrolyzer installations today look like custom petrochemical construction projects — bespoke and costly. Our pre-assembled modules include the balance of plant, avoiding the custom design and on-site construction that balloons the cost of hydrogen projects today.”
-Hgen’s CEO Molly Yang
“Hgen assembled an incredible strike team from SpaceX and Tesla, who’ve previously developed complex technologies better than incumbents on rapid time scales and are now making breakthroughs in alkaline electrolysis.”
-Seven Seven Six founder and general partner Alexis Ohanian
“Hgen’s commercial traction validates the superior performance of their technology, and we’re excited to support them on this journey.”
-Seven Seven Six founding partner Katelin Holloway
