Ecovyst Inc., a leading innovative and integrated global provider of advanced materials, specialty catalysts and services, announced a key equity investment of $4.5 MM in Pajarito Powder, an innovative materials science company that specializes in supports and catalysts required for electrolyzers and fuel cells.

This investment in Pajarito Powder reflects Ecovyst's belief that H₂ produced via electrolysis will become a widely used, low-carbon fuel for heavy-duty transportation and Industrial applications. As noted in a recent report by Bloomberg, the green H₂ market is expected to grow more than 20 times by 2030 to 10 MM metric t, from an estimated 400,000 metric t in 2024. Pajarito Powder has successfully developed a broad range of supports and catalysts targeting improved performance and lower costs for electrolyzers and fuel cells, which are critical technologies to enable growth in the H₂ economy.

Pajarito Powder is expected to deploy the Ecovyst investment to advance its strongly positioned technology, deepen customer partnerships, and build its business. In conjunction with this investment, Ecovyst and Pajarito also expect to engage in joint development efforts that take advantage of both companies' competencies in material science and manufacturing. As a result of its investment, Ecovyst will also appoint a representative to the Board of Directors of Pajarito Powder. 

"Ecovyst has already developed deep internal capabilities to serve renewable and sustainable fuels, bio-catalysis and carbon capture and sequestration. Investing in emerging catalyst technologies focused on the H₂ economy is a logical next step for us," said Kurt Bitting, CEO of Ecovyst. "We are excited about expanding our capabilities into the emerging H₂ economy by partnering with a technology leader such as Pajarito Powder."   

Pajarito Powder and Ecovyst plan to initiate various joint development agreements to develop the technology platforms of each company, including the use of mesoporous carbon for new applications.

"We have deep materials science and catalyst capabilities developed over four decades," said Paul Whittleston, President of the Advanced Materials & Catalysts segment at Ecovyst. "Leveraging our know-how in catalyst scale up and manufacturing along with our global footprint to support Pajarito Powder to achieve its business plan is a natural win-win. We also believe there are great opportunities to build on the mesoporous carbon capabilities of Pajarito Powder for many new growth applications, including carbon capture."

Tom Stephenson, Pajarito Powder's CEO, said, "We carefully select our investment partners to ensure that their culture and capabilities closely align with our strategic needs. Along with our existing strategic investors Hyundai Motor Company and N.V. Bekaert S.A, we feel Ecovyst provides competencies that will help accelerate our growth in supports and catalysts for electrolyzers and fuel cells."