UK cleantech company Ki 13, formerly known as Ki Hydrogen, has raised $5 million in seed funding led by HICO Investment Group, with participation from Burgest, Triple Impact Ventures, GiTV, and Desai Ventures, alongside non-dilutive match funding from Innovate UK.
- Founded in 2022 by Koji Muto, Michael Stanton, and Carl Banbury, Ki 13 develops lower-cost production methods for green hydrogen and biogenic CO₂.
- The company has developed an electrochemical process that converts lignocellulosic biomass into separate streams of hydrogen and CO₂. These outputs can be used as feedstocks for synthetic fuels and chemicals, including sustainable aviation fuel (e-SAF), e-methanol, and e-methane.
- The company aims to reduce the cost and energy requirements associated with producing these feedstocks. According to Ki 13, its process requires around 25 kWh of electricity per kilogram of hydrogen and 300 kWh per tonne of CO₂, compared with around 50 kWh per kilogram for water electrolysis and up to 3,000 kWh per tonne for direct air capture.
- Ki 13 uses biomass residues from agricultural, forestry, and other biological sources, rather than purpose-grown resources, to produce green hydrogen and biogenic CO₂.
Details of the deal
- The funding will be used to build and commission an industrial pilot plant and scale the technology toward commercial deployment. The company plans to commission the pilot plant in 2027 before developing a commercial demonstration plant.
