- Syzygy Plasmonics — a company developing the world’s highest performance photocatalyst — announced it raised $5.8 million in Series A funding
Syzygy Plasmonics — a technology company that is developing the world’s highest performance photocatalyst — announced it has raised $5.8 million in a Series A round of funding. This round of funding was co-led by The Engine and by The GOOSE Society of Texas. And previous investor Evok Innovations was also a major participant in the round. Other participants include angel investors from the Creative Destruction Lab program and the Houston area.
“With pioneering research combined with product development focus, we see a future where fuels, chemicals, and fertilizers are produced more sustainably and at a lower cost than the status quo today,” said Syzygy CEO and co-founder Trevor Best. “We have the potential for positive global impact in working with chemical and energy industry players and the people they serve by enhancing sustainability, improving accessibility, lowering cost, and enabling new business models.”
Syzygy is also advancing a new photocatalytic chemical reactor powered by light from renewable electricity rather than heat from burning fuel. And Syzygy’s photocatalytic reactor holds promise to revolutionize the industrial gas, chemical, and energy industries by significantly reducing the cost and carbon emissions in the production process for a wide range of major chemicals such as fuel, fertilizer, and plastic.
The company’s technology is based upon two decades of breakthrough research from world-renowned professors Naomi Halas and Peter Nordlander at Rice University, the photocatalysts are orders of magnitude more active, stable, and efficient than previous photocatalysts.
“Based on breakthroughs in plasmonic science by professors Halas and Nordlander, we now have an opportunity to dramatically reduce the carbon footprint of the chemical and energy industries,” added Suman Khatiwada, PhD, CTO and co-founder of Syzygy.
This investment round also comes on the heels of other significant developments for Syzygy. Earlier this year, Syzygy had received grants from the Department of Energy for the development of a reactor to create hydrogen from ammonia and from the National Science Foundation SBIR Program for the development of a reactor that processes carbon dioxide.
“Syzygy’s photocatalysis technology platform can transform how we approach chemical manufacturing — using light instead of burning fossil fuels,” explained Katie Rae, the CEO and managing partner of The Engine. “We are thrilled to support the mission of this passionate founding team to enable a future of zero-emission chemical manufacturing.”
