Ayrton Energy, a developer of liquid organic H₂ carrier (LOHC) technology, secured $6.8 MM in seed financing to advance its low-cost, scalable approach to safe, efficient delivery of clean H₂. The round was led by Clean Energy Ventures and the Business Development Bank of Canada’s investment arm, BDC Capital, with participation from Antares Ventures, EPS Ventures, SOSV, the51, and UCeed Investment Funds. Ayrton Energy will leverage the financing to scale its proprietary technology, double the size of its team, and expand operations into energy hubs in the U.S.

Clean H₂ is expected to deliver up to 85 gigatons in cumulative CO₂ emissions reductions by 2050, and the market is expected to grow to $1.4 T annually by 2050, according to an outlook report by Deloitte. Two major bottlenecks stunting the growth of the clean H₂ sector are the high costs of transport and lack of dedicated storage infrastructure.

Clean H₂ use in hard-to-abate industries like aviation and shipping will require dedicated infrastructure to enable practical, widespread H₂ distribution and utilization. While fossil-based fuels like gasoline and natural gas are transported and stored via pipelines, railroad tank cars, and tanker trucks, the transport and storage of H₂ is comparatively difficult and expensive today, requiring cryogenic temperatures and high-pressure containers.

Founded by mechanical engineer Natasha Kostenuk and chemist Dr. Brandy Kinkead, Ayrton is developing the only low temperature and low pressure LOHC H₂ storage system to enable clean H₂ at lower cost and higher safety than any storage solution on the market today. Ayrton’s energy-efficient solution allows for stable, long-term storage and transportation of H₂ at room temperature using existing liquid fuel infrastructure.

“The transportation and storage of clean H₂ is a major barrier to expanding H₂ adoption in critical sectors for decarbonization like mobility and energy,” said Daniel Goldman, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Clean Energy Ventures. “Ayrton’s solution demonstrates an innovative, scalable and cost-effective path for using H₂ in geographies far beyond where H₂ can be produced at very low cost. We’re eager to help this deeply technical and commercial leadership team scale their technology and enable broad expansion of the H₂ market globally.”

"The H₂ sector will play an increasingly important role in decarbonizing our economy," said Cheri Corbett, Partner and Team Lead at BDC Capital's Climate Tech Fund. "Ayrton’s technology will enable sizable greenhouse gas reduction and help Canada reach its 2030 and 2050 climate targets. We’re excited to play a role in supporting its management team’s impressive growth plans, which is fully aligned with our mission to support entrepreneurs like Natasha who accelerate Canada’s innovation outcomes in climate technologies.”

With a unique LOHC system, Ayrton’s non-toxic, oil-based carrier fluid is controlled similarly to liquid fuels enabling producers to store H₂ to minimize losses without the need for new infrastructure. Ayrton’s system maintains H₂ at high purity for compatibility even with fuel cells and creates a solution suitable for long-duration storage, overcoming a long-time barrier to widespread deployment of H₂ to enable the growth of H₂ generation facilities, industrial and commercial H₂ use and more.

Ayrton is already deploying a pilot program in Alberta, Canada, with ATCO Gas. ATCO is the largest natural gas utility in the province and a leader in the H₂ space in North America. The partnership will enhance Ayrton's ability to produce 10 tpy H₂ and explore the potential for integration with technologies like fuel cells and other energy systems. 

“Enabling the widespread production of clean H₂ will be the backbone of an emissions-free future, and we believe our industry-agnostic solution will be a step in the right direction to democratize energy access globally,” said Natasha Kostenuk, Founder and CEO of Ayrton Energy. “We’re grateful to our amazing cohort of investors whose expertise in scaling technologies commercially will be integral as we continue to grow our customer base.”