The round was led by Carbon Direct Capital with participation from Aramco Ventures, Chevron Technology Ventures, LOTTE CHEMICAL, and Toyota Ventures.

Existing investors including EVOK Innovations, The Engine, Equinor Ventures, Goose Capital, Horizons Ventures, Pan American Energy, and Sumitomo Corporation of Americas also joined the round. Carbon Direct Capital will join the Syzygy board and serve as Series C director.

The capital raised will fund further development and delivery of all-electric reactor systems that eliminate fossil-based combustion from chemical manufacturing and reduce the carbon intensity of hydrogen, methanol, and fuel.

Rather than rely on thermal energy, Syzygy Plasmonics harnesses the power of light to energize chemical reactions. This approach is designed to reduce feedstock waste while producing fewer emissions when powered by renewable electricity.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) reported in its Global Hydrogen Review 2022 that producing 94 million metric tonnes of hydrogen in 2021 released 900 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide.

The IEA estimates that hydrogen production must double by 2030 for the world to stay on track for net zero emissions by 2050, with roughly 60% from low-carbon production. Widely available low-carbon, low-cost hydrogen is necessary to increase its adoption and contribution to the achievement of climate goals.

Syzygy technology combines two major recent breakthroughs to reduce emissions in chemical manufacturing. The first was the invention of high-performance photocatalysts at Rice University by company co-founders and professors Naomi Halas and Peter Nordlander. The second was the engineering of a novel reactor that uses common low-cost materials like glass, aluminum, and LEDs instead of high-cost metal alloys.

The result is a scalable, universal chemical reactor platform that is designed to use different feedstocks to drive multiple, fundamental chemical reactions. Several field trials have initiated with commercial units scheduled to ship in 2023.

Trevor Best, Syzygy Plasmonics CEO and Co-Founder, said its mission is to decarbonise chemical and fuel production.

He said, “Syzygy’s aim is to achieve 1 gigaton of carbon emissions reductions by 2040, and the Series C financing is a key milestone in building towards that goal. Closing this fundraising round with such strong support from financial and strategic investors and with commercial agreements in hand is a signal to the market.”

Syzygy is focused on aligning energy, technology, and sustainability, said CTO and co-founder Suman Khatiwada.

“The projects we are delivering are targeting zero-emissions hydrogen from green ammonia, low-emissions hydrogen from combustion-free steam methane reforming, and sustainable fuels made from carbon dioxide and methane. This technology is the future of chemical manufacturing,” he said.

Syzygy’s universal reactor platform has attracted support from multiple international investors and partners with operations spanning the US, Asia, and Europe.

Jonathan Goldberg, Carbon Direct Capital’s CEO, said, “Syzygy’s photocatalysis technology is a key solution to decarbonise hydrogen production as well as other critical industries.”

Previously, Syzygy raised more than $35 million and secured Department of Energy ARPA-E and National Science Foundation SBIR Program grants.