PuriFire Energy announced it had closed a £2.7 million (US$3.5 million) seed round investment led by HICO Investment Group with participation from Bulnes Capital, R&R Investments, and Abhishek Desai.
In 2019, Dr Matthew Pearce founded PuriFire, which is a climate-based startup based in Cambridge, UK. And PuriFire aims to commercialise Dr Pearce’s early research into hydrothermal treatment technologies at Cranfield University. Their goal is to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy by scaling green hydrogen, biomethanol, and sustainable fuel production to be cost-competitive with fossil fuel alternatives.
PuriFire will combine the seed investment with a £525k (US$650k) grant from Innovate UK to set up a unique pilot project by mid-2025 to convert anaerobic digestion liquid digestate and other wet feedstocks into green methanol using PuriFire’s patented technology. As part of this round of investment, Chris Hartnoll, CEO and MD at HICO Investment Group, will join PuriFire’s Board.
HICO Investment Group sees major demand for PuriFire’s green methanol in the shipping industry. And since the beginning of 2024, leading shipping companies such as Maersk, Evergreen, Costco, and CMA-CGM have placed orders for 23 methanol-powered ships, bringing the total number of new methanol-powered vessels on order to over 200. This investment is part of HICO Investment Group’s investments in the energy transition.
KEY QUOTES:
“We are very excited to have HICO’s insight and expertise as we continue our journey to transform green methanol and sustainable fuel production. PuriFire’s technology offers a strong value proposition, as it can scale green methanol and sustainable fuel production without expensive electrolyzers or carbon capture systems.”
- Neel Shah, CEO and Co-Founder at PuriFire
“One of the key attractions was the potential of PuriFire’s technology to convert wet waste into sustainable fuels such as green methanol. By targeting feedstock that doesn’t necessarily compete with other technologies, we believe PuriFire can significantly reduce the levelized cost of methanol production.”
- Chris Hartnoll, MD at HICO Investment Group
