INERATEC: E-Fuel Company Closes $129 Million In Funding

By Amit Chowdhry • Jan 17, 2024

INERATEC – a pioneering e-fuel company – recently announced it has raised over $129 million in its Series B funding round, led by Piva Capital with additional participation from HG Ventures, TDK Ventures, Copec WIND Ventures, RockCreek, Emerald, Samsung Ventures, and the increased support from current investors, including global corporates like ENGIE New Ventures, Safran Corporate Ventures and Honda. The investment consortium for the Series B funding round included Planet A Ventures, MPC, High-Tech Gründerfonds, FO Holding, Safran Corporate Ventures, Honda, ENGIE New Ventures, HG Ventures, TDK, Copec WIND Ventures, RockCreek, Emerald, Samsung Ventures, Piva Capital.

Over 4,000 million tons of fossil crude oil are processed annually into fuels and chemical products. And much of the demand comes from hard-to-abate industries, such as aviation, shipping, and the chemical industry.

These sectors rely heavily on fossil fuels and desperately seek renewable alternatives to achieve carbon-neutral goals. So the demand for ‘drop-in’ e-Fuels, or synthetic fuels for use in combustion engines that require little to no adjustments relative to existing fuel infrastructure is expected to triple by 2030, reaching $13.6 trillion by 2050, expanding at a CAGR of 19.0% over the forecast period 2023-2050.

While the world is moving towards cleaner energy solutions, INERATEC is poised to lead this shift and drive the future of transportation and energy. And INERATEC’s technological advancement is a scalable patented technology that enables the production of ‘drop-in’ e-Fuels. This process involves two main steps: turning CO2 and hydrogen into synthesis gas, then using a second reactor to turn the synthesis gas into liquid and solid hydrocarbons. The e-Fuels comply with standards targeted for industries heavily relying on fossil fuels, such as aviation, shipping, road transport, and the chemical industry.

Since being founded in 2016, INERATEC has built and operated numerous pilot plants and is engaged with over 30 customers in the respective fields of application. The company has been recognized with several key awards, including the German Founders Award, the Next Economy Award, and the EARTO Award, and was recently selected as Top Innovator by UpLink, the Innovation platform of the World Economic Forum.

The new funding round will be used to start the mass production of INERATEC’s industrial-scale Power-to-X plants worldwide and advance the production of e-Fuels made from recycled CO2 and renewable energy. And INERATEC has begun construction of its largest plant to date in Frankfurt and is expanding through international projects in the Netherlands and Chile. This expansion will yield a 1,500 x increase in production, recycling over 12,000,000 metric tons of CO2 annually – the equivalent of what 1,125,000,000 trees would store. Beyond that, the technology will be implemented globally – wherever CO2 and renewable energy are available.

KEY QUOTES:

“This financing round is a major milestone for INERATEC as well as the transition from fossil fuels to sustainable e-Fuels. With the new capital, we are positioned to catalyze a paradigm shift in the energy sector. Our focus is to scale-up e-Fuels enabled by this new investment. By transforming 1GW of renewable energy into 125 million gallons of sustainable e-Fuel by 2030, we are taking solid steps in creating a viable alternative to fossil fuels.”

— Tim Boeltken, CEO of INERATEC

“INERATEC’s pioneering technology is the most promising e-Fuel solution we’ve seen to date in addressing the hardest-to-decarbonize sectors such as aviation, shipping, and chemicals. The company is doing more than just creating e-Fuels; their proprietary reactors are more efficient and scalable, re-imagining how industry can transform waste CO2, green electrons and hydrogen to meet various needs, from fuel to power cars, planes, and ships to green chemicals for our everyday consumptions. We believe that INERATEC has the winning solution to transform industries and help the world meet its collective goal to transition away from fossil fuels for energy.” 

— Adzmel Adznan, Co-founding Partner at Piva Capital