European cleantech firms secure more cash

Cleantech chemistry start-ups in Europe continue to attract investment to commercialize their technologies despite tough market conditions experienced by traditional chemical manufacturers in the region.

Investments were announced in recent days by Celtic Renewables, Photoncycle, and Nanomox. But fundraising for European cleantech start-ups is not a walk in the park, according to the Cleantech Group, a market research firm. Investment in European cleantech firms in 2024 and 2025 was below that of the early 2020s, it says. The effectiveness of the European Commission’s Industrial Accelerator Act, outlined earlier this week, could be pivotal in the progress of Europe’s clean industrial ambitions, the Cleantech Group predicts.

Scotland-based Celtic Renewables raised $13.3 million, half from investors and half from the Scottish government. The company will put the money toward construction of a $160 million industrial biorefinery to be built on the site of a former oil refinery in Grangemouth, Scotland. The Scottish government put $8.3 million toward the project in December.

Spun out of Edinburgh Napier University in 2012, Celtic Renewables began operating a demonstration plant for its fermentation technology in Grangemouth in 2023. The plant produces a total of 500 metric tons per year of acetone, butanol, and ethanol, largely from whiskey waste.

“Today, demand for our bio-based chemicals far outstrips current production capabilities at our demonstrator plant,” Celtic Renewables CEO Mark Simmers says in a press release. “Companies globally are seeking to switch to green chemicals to cut their indirect Scope 3 emissions and meet increasing customer demand for more sustainable products.”

Norway-based Photoncycle raised $17.5 million to commercialize a solid-state hydrogen storage system. A little larger than an oil barrel aboveground and with a larger hydrogen storage vessel underground, Photoncycle’s system is designed for households to store excess solar power generated in the summer for use in winter. Lithium-ion batteries are typically used for short-term energy storage but are not suited for storage across seasons, the firm says.

Each unit contains a fuel cell for converting electricity to hydrogen and returning it to electricity when required. The company isn’t disclosing the hydrogen storage medium it is using, but options on the market include metal amine complexes, solid sorbents, and salt-based systems.

Photoncycle will use its new funds to go from pilot to commercial scale. It plans to build enough units for 140,000 homes per year in Denmark and the Netherlands by 2027.

Meanwhile, the 2020 Imperial College London spinout Nanomox raised $3.2 million in a seed round consisting of research grants and money from investors. The company will use the funds to advance its method of recovering minerals such as zinc, manganese, and copper from battery and steel recycling and converting them into metal oxides. Nanomox plans to build a pilot plant and R&D facility with a capacity to make tons of product per month.

Nanomox’s technology recovers minerals with ionic-liquid-based catalytic solvents at low temperatures. The firm says its chemistry is tunable, enabling it to make metal oxide particles of a size, shape, or crystallinity tailored to specific applications. One of Nanomox’s initial products is zinc oxide crystals that provide ultraviolet protection to skin without leaving a white residue.