Peregrine Hydrogen Announces Financing to Accelerate the Development of its Co-Production Technology for Clean Hydrogen and Valuable Commodity Chemicals

September 22, 2023 09:31 AM Eastern Daylight Time

SANTA CRUZ, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Peregrine Hydrogen Inc, a climate technology company pioneering a dual production method for green hydrogen and valuable chemicals, today announced an oversubscribed $7.8M seed financing round. The round is led by Bidra with participation from Builders, Gates Frontier, Presidio Ventures, RiSC Capital and Schox. Peregrine will utilize the funds to refine and scale-up their proprietary technology and expand into commodity chemical markets.

Hydrogen is irreplaceable in today´s world. It is used to produce commodities that directly address the basic needs of human society, including fertilizer, plastics, and other critical products. Today, hydrogen is produced from fossil fuels, primarily through the methods of steam methane reforming (SMR) and coal gasification. Although these are generally low-cost processes, they release almost one billion tons of CO2 each year or ~2% of global CO2 emissions.

Peregrine, which spun out of the climate technology incubator Orca Sciences in June 2023, is developing a **novel electrolyzer technology* to produce clean hydrogen at cost parity with today's SMR pathway*. This breakthrough was achieved through Peregrine's co-production technology which delivers clean hydrogen alongside valuable, industrial chemicals. Peregrine's technology leverages proprietary chemical engineering advances and strategic integration methods to pursue commercial opportunities at scale.

Friðrik Lárusson, co-founder & CEO of Peregrine Hydrogen, commented, “The world's hydrogen is already being co-produced, but rarely in beneficial ways. SMR produces dirty CO2 with hydrogen. Conventional water electrolysis produces hydrogen and a less valuable stream of oxygen. Peregrine's technology co-produces clean hydrogen and valuable commodity chemicals at or below prices previously only achieved by using dirty production methods based on fossil fuels. We are grateful to our investors for joining us in this mission as we scale our technology across the large markets which can benefit from our unique approach.”

>> Additional Reading: Large-Scale Green Hydrogen for the UK: Air Products and Associated British Ports Partner on Renewable Hydrogen Production

Decarbonization efforts in historically difficult to abate sectors will benefit from Peregrine’s technology. To start, Peregrine will target fertilizer applications, which is responsible for feeding roughly 50% of humanity. Peregrine’s unique co-production technology not only decarbonizes the hydrogen for ammonia production but also simplifies supply chains and provides additional strategic advantages for fertilizer producers.

“Green hydrogen production technology has been around for 100+ years but we’ve lacked the innovation to compete with pollutive, fossil-based production methods,” commented Amar Singh, Head of Bidra. “Peregrine’s unique vision to produce hydrogen together with other critical chemical feedstocks will reduce the cost and complexity, thus making it scalable globally, particularly in countries like Morocco with unique advantages that enable low-cost production of hydrogen. Peregrine is a perfect fit for what we want to achieve. We are delighted to back an exceptional team with a track record of turning technical breakthroughs into commercial successes.“

Matt Shaner, co-founder and CTO of Peregrine remarked, “The world isn’t willing to pay more for clean hydrogen. That’s why we are developing the Peregrine co-production process; it makes energetic and financial sense today, without a need for subsidies.”

The funding will support technical development and hiring. Peregrine is growing its technical team based in California. The company is focusing on recruiting industry experts, high energy chemical engineers and process engineering specialists. To find out more, visit www.peregrinehydrogen.com

About Peregrine Hydrogen

Peregrine Hydrogen’s proprietary technology co-produces the world’s lowest cost clean hydrogen and valuable commodity chemicals. While at Orca Sciences, co-founders Matt Shaner, Stefan Omelchenko, Ian McKay, and Fridrik Larusson conceived the vision for producing cost-effective, clean hydrogen for hard to abate industries, by leveraging thermodynamically advantaged chemistries. Peregrine Hydrogen is backed by top investors – including Bidra, Builders, Gates Frontier, Presidio Ventures, RiSC Capital and Schox.

About Bidra

Bidra Innovation Ventures is a $250MM venture capital firm based in San Francisco, California and Ben Guerir, Morocco. Backed by UM6P and The OCP Group, Bidra invests in sustainable technologies for Africa and beyond. Bidra is stage-agnostic and also invests in other GPs active in energy, water, mining, and agriculture sectors.

About Builders

Builders VC is a Series A fund focused on the modernization of legacy industries. The firm is currently investing out of their second vehicle, a $250MM fund where they look for technologies disrupting verticals that have been historically underinvested by venture capitalists. Within this thesis, Builders has four specific areas of interest: digital health, agriculture, industrial, and real assets.

About Presidio Ventures

Established in 1998 with offices in Silicon Valley, Boston and Los Angeles, Presidio Ventures has invested in more than 200 companies over the past twenty years. Presidio's expansive network of Sumitomo affiliates and subsidiaries helps the company tailor support for start-ups, ensuring that new companies can succeed from early-stage investment all the way to IPO. Founded in Sumitomo's centuries-old business philosophy of shared prosperity, Presidio looks for opportunities to partner with entrepreneurs in key industries that shape the way we live. For more information visit www.presidio-ventures.com.

About RiSC Capital

RiSC Capital is an early-stage VC focused on catalyzing deep technology investments and driving their successful commercializations. While RiSC officially introduced its inaugural fund in 2020, its partners have been actively investing in early stage tech firms since the early 2000's. For further background please visit http://risc.capital.

About Schox

Schox Patent Group developed the patent strategy and wrote the patents for some of the most iconic startups in the last decade, including Coinbase, Cruise, Duo, Joby, and Twilio. Schox Venture Capital, which is led by Schox Patent Group, invests in their best clients. For more information, please visit Schox.law and Schox.vc.

About Orca Sciences

Orca Sciences is an applied science organization focused on projects in energy and climate.