The company was spun out of Aberdeen University by chief executive Jani Shibuya who believes it can help tackle challenges that have impeded the development of the market for so-called green hydrogen.
This involves producing hydrogen from water using electrolysis.
Blue hydrogen is produced from natural gas.
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Sceptics have suggested the costs involved with green hydrogen production are too high for the technology to be economically viable.
Hychor has developed electrochemical systems which it says can be used to produce hydrogen directly from seawater on sites close to where it will be used.
Conventional electrolysers use purified water.
The company claims that by ending the need for freshwater supply or extensive centralised infrastructure it can reduce both cost and infrastructure barriers that currently limit wider hydrogen adoption.
The founders believe the technology would be suitable for deployment in off-grid coastal communities and on the sites of industrial users that are trying to decarbonise operations.
The production facilities could use renewable energy produced nearby, helping to maximise the use of the related capacity.
Mr Shibuya and co-founder Alex Colledge have big ambitions for the business.
“Our long‑term ambition is to be globally impactful in the hydrogen and renewable energy production sector, helping address two of the planet’s most pressing challenges – energy security and water scarcity,” Mr Shibuya said.
Hychor has opened a new research and development facility at the Aberdeen Energy Park in Bridge of Don in a move it said reflected its transition from academic-based research to product development.
The company has recruited three additional staff members and expects to start industrial pilot projects in 2027.
The park Hychor has moved into is owned by Manchester-based property investment group Hurstwood Holdings.
Hopes that hydrogen will be widely used in Scotland have faded amid doubts about whether it would be suitable for uses such as domestic heating.
In February, Aberdeen city council scrapped plans to develop a hydrogen-powered bus network in co-operation with BP amid suggestions electrification would represent a more cost-effective way of reducing carbon emissions.
Offshore Energies UK recently criticised the Labour Government for failing to develop a revised hydrogen strategy to succeed the one produced by the former conservative Government in 2021.
Enrique Cornejo, head of energy policy at the trade body, told The Herald that it had been accepted that hydrogen would play a more limited role in decarbonisation than expected in 2021.
However, noting the potential to use hydrogen to reduce the amount of carbon emitted by industries such as oil and gas production he said the Government should still look to maximise the potential of the fuel.
Eight Scottish projects were included on the shortlist of applications for support under the second Hydrogen Allocation Round, which was published in April last year.
These include a green hydrogen production project at Grangemouth.
The winners have still to be announced.
