Modern Hydrogen Inks $32.8 Million In Funding To Decarbonize Natural Gas Into Clean Hydrogen

By Annie Baker • May 26, 2023

Modern Hydrogen recently announced an oversubscribed $32.8 million Series B-2 funding round led by NextEra Energy with strategic investors & partners Miura and National Grid Partners also participating. And existing investors Gates Frontier, IRONGREY, Starlight Ventures, Valo Ventures, and Metaplanet continued their participation and expanded their investments as part of the funding round.

The company is going to utilize the investment to scale up the capacity of its hydrogen production units. And this will further accelerate the decarbonization of gas networks and support distributed production of hydrogen, without a reliance on new hydrogen pipelines or massive infrastructure upgrades. The funding round will also be utilized to expand the company’s clean carbon material offerings and boost its global market presence via the partnership with Miura in Japan.

Modern Hydrogen also announced the move away from its previous name “Modern Electron” to shape the new brand of Modern Hydrogen. And this new identity reflects its commitment to innovation in the clean hydrogen economy. As Modern Hydrogen, the company plans to continue to provide the exceptional technology and products its customers have come to expect and will continue expanding offerings of clean energy and materials under the “Modern” umbrella.

The participation of NextEra Energy, Miura, and National Grid Partners in this funding round highlights the confidence from the investors in Modern Hydrogen’s vision and potential to clean up one of the largest sources of energy in human civilization today: Natural gas. And these strategic investors bring a wealth of expertise in the energy, technology, and industrial equipment market, which will be invaluable as the company continues to scale and innovate.

KEY QUOTES:

“As a leading manufacturer of industrial boilers, our mission is to make it ‘actionable’ for our customers to decarbonize the heat. Among the various hydrogen production and transportation pathways, the clean hydrogen production at point of use from natural gas is unique, and bundled with our hydrogen-fired boiler, it will be a great solution to the customers who have limited access to clean hydrogen in the other pathways. Participating in the COP27 last year, I strongly felt the need for immediate climate action. Together with Modern Hydrogen, we will work toward hydrogen deployment as early as possible.”

— Daisuke Miyauchi, President & CEO MIURA Co., Ltd

“National Grid is mobilizing to help our customers reach net zero, and hydrogen plus renewable natural gas are key pillars of our strategy. Modern’s technology could help our gas customers adopt clean hydrogen sooner by making low-CO2 hydrogen affordable onsite. Moreover, by pairing Modern’s pyrolysis technology with renewable natural gas in National Grid’s network, we have the potential to achieve negative emissions without the high cost of CO2 capture.”

— Lisa Lambert, Chief Technology & Innovation Officer of National Grid and Founder & President of National Grid Partners

“NextEra Energy Resources sees Modern Hydrogen’s potential to support the emerging hydrogen economy using technology that can provide clean hydrogen on-site, without liquefaction, transport or storage. In addition to our industry-leading wind, solar and battery energy storage portfolio, NextEra Energy Resources offers comprehensive decarbonization solutions, such as renewable natural gas and green mobility. NextEra Energy Resources believes that Modern Hydrogen will enable yet another exciting clean, cost-effective option for commercial and industrial customers.”

— Elena Bueno-Gonzalez, Vice President, Clean Energy Solutions, NextEra Energy Resources

“There are 3 million miles of natural gas pipelines in the USA alone. And the delivered price of natural gas is much cheaper than that of delivered electricity, typically by a factor of 3 to 5 times. By stripping out the offending carbon atom from gas at the end of the pipe, before it has a chance to become CO2, Modern’s technology can deliver decarbonized gas – aka clean hydrogen – on location. Thus, Modern can deliver this hydrogen to the end consumer, without the decades and billions of dollars it would take to build out hydrogen infrastructure. Sidestepping the need for new pipes and transmission permits will be invaluable in achieving speed & scale in realizing the clean hydrogen economy.”

— Tony Pan, Co-founder and CEO of Modern Hydrogen

“Negative emissions technologies are required to meet humanity’s climate goals. We can generate net negative emissions by applying our pyrolysis technology on carbon-neutral gases such as biogas. The solid carbon we pull out from the gas is directly weighed, so every ton of solid carbon we put into products and building materials are verifiable emissions captured, avoided, and utilized.”

— Modern Hydrogen Co-founder and CTO Max Mankin