A company chosen for a state-led strategic project after winning government recognition for its technology and business viability is now stuck, unable to clear commercial banks’ collateral requirements. Critics say the government’s policy support and the actual disbursement of funds on the ground are out of step, as banks apply traditional collateral reviews even to innovative technology firms. Some argue that the review structure, which weighs only financial statements, must change if ventures and startups are to cross the “death valley” just before commercialization.
Ehu CEO Ko Hae-hoon said in an August 13 interview with The Seoul Economic Daily that the company had been selected for loan support under the “Carbon Neutral Transition Leading Project” in recognition of its business viability, technology and contribution to carbon reduction. But blocked by the banks’ collateral threshold, Ko said, the company now risks losing the chance to commercialize its new technology.
Ehu is a climate-tech firm developing a distributed hydrogen energy system that can produce and store hydrogen using water and electricity on site, and even generate power. It was recently approved to receive 29.4 billion won from an 80 billion won loan support program for carbon neutral transition leading projects run by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) and the Korea Industrial Complex Corporation. But the company is struggling to raise the money because banks are demanding real estate or deposits as collateral. If it fails to receive 10% of this year’s 15.8 billion won in support by the 26th, the selection itself could be voided.
“I understand the banks’ need for risk management,” Ko said. “But I hope they will look beyond just real estate or cash and also evaluate why we were chosen for a national support project and our growth potential.” Ko added that for national strategic projects, guarantee agencies should sharply raise their special guarantee limits, and that a policy-finance loan track should be created that reviews applicants based on the value of future technology and business viability.
The company is developing and refining “Power Shuttle,” a mobile small-scale power generation system that packs water electrolysis equipment, storage tanks and fuel-cell power generation equipment into a 40-foot container. Water electrolysis is a technology that produces hydrogen by splitting water with electricity. The company has also secured safety design technology that controls the heat and pressure of hydrogen, which carries explosion risks. In particular, it has built a system that controls and operates the integrated module in real time based on artificial intelligence (AI).
Having completed technology verification, the company is now conducting long-term durability testing while improving the performance of its AI control system. It has also carried out several energy-related research and development (R&D) projects commissioned by MOTIE and the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency, among others. It has registered nine patents and filed six more. “We plan to have Power Shuttle used in places beyond the limits of existing hydrogen infrastructure — islands and mountainous areas where building transmission and distribution networks is difficult, disaster zones, and industrial sites with unstable power supply,” Ko said. “We plan to unveil a commercial prototype within the year and begin certification and first product shipments next year, but I worry that funding problems could disrupt that goal.”
Ko has set a goal of producing 100 Power Shuttle units by 2030 and is in talks to sign letters of intent (LOI) with local governments, industrial complexes and AI data centers. The plan is to build a track record in the domestic market before aggressively pursuing overseas markets. “The biggest advantage is that it can reduce the costs and carbon emissions generated in producing, transporting and storing hydrogen,” Ko said. “Over the next 10 years, it should be able to cut about 14.75 million tons of carbon dioxide.”
Ko played handball in high school and college. After completing military service, Ko took an engineering job at the Namdong Industrial Complex in Incheon in 1999, learning materials, equipment design and control technology. In 2008, Ko founded a machinery and equipment manufacturer that supplied electrolytic cells for purifying livestock wastewater and swimming pool water. An electrolytic cell is a device that extracts alkaline and acidic water from water. Ko also developed a waste incineration pyrolysis plant for removing dioxins. But when the green hydrogen market that had been the main focus failed to open up, the business closed in 2010. Ko was then recruited as CEO of a food waste processor manufacturer and threw himself into research on hydrogen equipment. Later, while working as chief technology officer (CTO) at a hydrogen generator company, Ko showed such striking technical skill that researchers from large companies and government-funded research institutes called Ko “some kind of Edison.” After refining Power Shuttle technology — including achieving the optimal distance between electrodes — Ko launched the company anew in 2021. Along the way, Ko transferred into a university to major in refrigeration and air-conditioning engineering. “What worked was not digging into just one field, but integrating pyrolysis plant catalysts, electrical engineering, fluid mechanics and system control technology learned in the field,” Ko said.
To diversify its revenue sources, Ehu is also developing raw materials for cosmetics and health functional foods that use the powerful antioxidant properties of hydrogen. The method extracts hydrogen water and fulvic acid, a natural organic substance, in high purity to maximize mineral absorption and antioxidant effects within cells. The company expects this will further increase sales of electrolytic cell materials and plates for water treatment devices, which came to 2.8 billion won last year. “We are securing patents, conducting skin irritation tests and efficacy certification, and supplying samples to cosmetics and non-combustible materials firms, which have received good reviews,” Ko said.
Finally, Ko stressed that with the government emphasizing “first mover” R&D, the financial sector must change how it reviews deep-tech firms for global innovative companies to emerge.
