IP Group plc - Portfolio company Hysata completes oversubscribed series A funding round to develop pilot manufacturing facility

IP Group plc (LSE: IPO) ("IP Group" or "the Group"), which develops world-changing science and technology businesses across life sciences, technology and cleantech, notes that portfolio company Hysata Pty Ltd ("Hysata" or "the Company") has raised $A42.5m (£24.3m*) to help develop a pilot manufacturing facility aimed at delivering the world's lowest cost green hydrogen.

Hysata, an Australian electrolyser company developing a completely new type of electrolyser featuring the world's most efficient electrolysis cell, launched last year having spun out of the University of Wollongong. The Hysata electrolyser operates at 95% system efficiency (41.5 kWh/kg), delivering a leap in performance and cost over incumbent technologies, which typically operate at 75% or less. This high efficiency, coupled with the simple approach to mass manufacturing and low supply chain risk puts the company on a path to delivering the world's lowest cost green hydrogen.

IP Group committed a total of A$19m (£10.9m*) to the funding round (A$9m(£5.1m*) from IP Group Australia and A$10m (£5.7m*) from our cleantech platform, Kiko Ventures). Following completion, the Group's stake in Hysata is valued at approximately £19.0m. IP Group has recorded a net unrealised fair value gain of approximately £8.4m.

Greg Smith, Chief Executive Officer of IP Group, said: "Hysata has made excellent technical progress with research in Nature Communications, the scientific journal, confirming its efficiency earlier this year and we're delighted to see Hysata attract such strong interest in this round. This is a great example of IP Group's model where our Australian team have worked closely with our cleantech team in the UK to find, fund and support this exciting hydrogen technology."

The full release follows below.

*GBP equivalent using 1.75 AUD/GBP

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Notes for editors

About IP Group

IP Group develops world-changing science and technology businesses across life sciences, technology and cleantech (through Kiko Ventures). The Group has a strong track record of success, having been the founder investor in a number of high-profile companies including Oxford Nanopore Technologies plc, and has one of the most exciting portfolios of high-growth businesses in Europe. The Group also owns Parkwalk, the UK's largest growth EIS fund manager which backs world-changing technologies emerging from the UK's leading universities and research institutions. IP Group is listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange under the code IPO.

For more information, please visit our website at www.ipgroupplc.com.

ENDS

Green hydrogen company Hysata's Series A funding exceeds $40 million 

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation, Kiko Ventures, IP Group Australia, Vestas Ventures, and Hostplus are among the top-tier investors supporting Hysata's Capillary-Fed Electrolyser

(Sydney, Australia) Tuesday 2 August 2022

Australian company Hysata's world-leading hydrogen electrolyser technology has been supported by renowned global investors, as the organisation closes its oversubscribed Series A funding round of $42.5 million AUD. Virescent Ventures led the funding round on behalf of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) (Aus), with participation from Kiko Ventures (UK), IP Group Australia, Vestas Ventures (Denmark), Hostplus (Aus) and BlueScope (via its ventures arm BlueScopeX ^TM) (Aus).

Assembling such a high profile and high impact list of investors underlines the significance of the transformation that Hysata is bringing to the green hydrogen industry. The Hysata electrolyser operates at 95% system efficiency (41.5 kWh/kg), delivering a giant leap in performance and cost over incumbent technologies, which typically operate at 75% or less. This high efficiency, coupled with the simple approach to mass manufacturing and low supply chain risk puts the company on a path to delivering the world's lowest cost green hydrogen.

Funding from the Series A round will be used to grow the Hysata team and develop a pilot manufacturing facility.

"Our mission is to redefine the economics of green hydrogen production through our innovative proprietary electrolyser technology. The support of this international syndicate of clean energy practitioners and investors validates our core technology and our approach to scaling and mass manufacture," said Paul Barrett, CEO of Hysata.

"Green hydrogen is a vital energy vector on the world's path to net zero, critical to decarbonising the hard-to-abate, yet vital, sectors of our economy such as steelmaking, heavy transport, and the chemical industry. The extensive end use cases for green hydrogen translate to a greater than trillion-dollar market opportunity.

"Over the last 12-18 months, Hysata has been interacting with dozens of major customers globally. The impact our efficiency and system simplicity delivers to customers' project economics truly moves the needle. We look forward to continuing to work with our shareholders and customers to bring this much needed technology to market as soon as possible."

The CEFC invested $10 million into the Series A funding round, building on its initial $750,000 investment in the early commercial development of Hysata's research. CEFC CEO Ian Learmonth said that backing a company like Hysata and its cutting-edge electrolyser technology is vital in helping to grow Australia's clean technology ecosystem.

"The CEFC is proud to continue our support for Hysata, which is set to be a major player in the global electrolyser industry. Green hydrogen will be essential to addressing the hardest to abate sources of emissions, and we're excited to see Australian ingenuity providing the technology solutions that will help this industry reach scale. The CEFC has a strong focus on hydrogen related investments through both our Innovation and Advancing Hydrogen Funds and we are delighted to see Hysata continue to advance hydrogen to help meet future energy needs and reduce emissions in more sectors of the Australian economy," Mr Learmonth said.

The CEFC investment is via its specialist Clean Energy Innovation Fund, which is managed by Virescent Ventures. Virescent Ventures Partner Blair Pritchard said: "Hysata continues to make rapid progress and we are pleased to support such an innovative company with an outstanding team. The continued growth of Hysata is an important pointer to the enormous potential of hydrogen to our net zero future."

Kiko Ventures' Founding Partner, Robert Trezona, said Hysata has real potential to become a major global clean technology player.

"Having assessed scores of electrolyser technologies in my 20 years in cleantech, Hysata's technology stands out as a true breakthrough. The company has redefined the core cell architecture for alkaline electrolysis, producing a practical and scalable solution with game changing efficiency. Hysata has the potential to be a globally significant company in the hydrogen economy and we look forward to supporting its growth, especially here in Europe." Dr Trezona said.

IP Group Australia's Managing Director, Michael Molinari, added: "Hysata have assembled a world-class team to bring their revolutionary capillary-fed electrolyser to market. We're proud to have supported the company from before inception at the University of Wollongong to now redefining the economics of green hydrogen with their electrolyser that is set to scale."

Todd O'Neill, CEO of Vestas Ventures, said: "As the venture capital arm of the world's leading renewable technology provider, Vestas Ventures foresees great potential in combining wind power with electrolysers for green hydrogen production. We are delighted to have been invited to invest in Hysata. Nurturing disruptive renewable technologies is central to our investment strategy and we look forward to following Hysata's success over the coming years."

BlueScopeX^TM's General Partner, Michael Quinn, agreed that Hysata's technology could play a significant role in the development of commercially viable hydrogen production.

"BlueScopeX^TM is pleased to be investing in Australian technologies coming out of our local communities, with Hysata being born in the Illawarra. Our industry requires smart, affordable technologies like Hysata's to help progress the broader goal of decarbonisation, and we are excited to be supporting them on their path to commercialisation," he said.

ENDS

About Hysata

Hysata is an Australian electrolyser company which is developing a completely new type of electrolyser, featuring the world's most efficient electrolysis cell coupled with a simplified balance of plant. Electricity makes up most of the cost of green hydrogen and therefore, the most efficient electrolyser will deliver the lowest cost hydrogen. The Hysata founding team comprises electrolyser industry veterans, with deep expertise in the design and scale-up of novel electrolysers. Building on that foundation we are growing a world-class engineering, manufacturing, and commercial team with a footprint on multiple continents. Backed by leading global investors, Hysata is moving rapidly towards manufacturing at the multi-gigawatt scale needed to address climate change. For more information visit www.hysata.com

About the CEFC

The CEFC has a unique mission to accelerate investment in Australia's transition to net zero emissions. We invest to lead the market, operating with commercial rigour to address some of Australia's toughest emissions challenges. We're working with our co-investors across renewable energy generation and energy storage, as well as agriculture, infrastructure, property, transport and waste. Through the Advancing Hydrogen Fund, we're supporting the growth of a clean, innovative, safe and competitive hydrogen industry. And as Australia's largest dedicated cleantech investor, we continue to back cleantech entrepreneurs through the Clean Energy Innovation Fund. With $10 billion to invest on behalf of the Australian Government, we work to deliver a positive return for taxpayers across our portfolio.

About Virescent Ventures

Virescent Ventures was born out of the Clean Energy Innovation Fund, part of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation. Virescent invests in pre-seed to late-stage growth capital, and makes investments that address the largest, hardest to abate sources of emissions. For more information visit www.virescent.vc

About Kiko Ventures

Kiko Ventures is a US$450m venture investor that supports transformative climate tech and is the world's first evergreen cleantech VC. Launched in 2022 by the FTSE 250 listed investment firm IP Group plc, Kiko Ventures was founded to create new possibilities for a regenerative future. It is a highly flexible investment platform using IP Group's balance sheet capital and aims to be a long-term partner to leading climate tech innovators.

For more information visit www.kiko.vc

About IP Group Australia

IP Group develops world-changing science and technology businesses across life sciences, technology and cleantech. The Group has a strong track record of success, having been the founder investor in a number of high-profile companies including Oxford Nanopore Technologies plc. In Australia and New Zealand, IP Group works in close partnership with the Go8 Universities and the University of Auckland to identify ground-breaking technologies rooted in hard science, which have the most promising commercial potential. IP Group is listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange under the code IPO. For more information visit www.ipgroupanz.com

About Vestas Ventures

Vestas Ventures is the corporate venture capital arm of Vestas Wind Systems, the world's leading renewable technology provider. Vestas Ventures invests in startups that support Vestas' vision to be the global leader in sustainable energy solutions. For more information visit www.vestas.com/ventures

About Hostplus

Hostplus has grown to be one of the largest industry super funds in Australia. With over 1.5 million members, more than 269,000 employers and $86.6 billion in funds under management (as at 30 June 2022), our scale and ongoing growth allows for low member costs and a broad range of investment opportunities. 

For more information visit www.hostplus.com.au

About BlueScopeX^TM

BlueScope is one of the world's leading manufacturers steel coated products and commercial steel buildings. BlueScope is publicly listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, with an approximate market cap of $10b and >14,000 employees globally.

BlueScopeXTM is the ventures arm of BlueScope, dedicated to investing in and accelerating start-ups and businesses developing technologies and solutions in the decarbonisation space, and efficiency improvements in the built environment. For more information visit www.bluescope.com