[ industry trends ]
Business maturity and typical decarbonisation investment characteristics
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Typical investor Angel Early stage VC VC Late stage VC / PE
Bulge bracket PE / Infra
Typical investment |
US $ 10 K – US $ 250 K |
US $ 250 K – US $ 5 M |
US $ 5 M – US $ 50 M |
US $ 50 M – US $ 200 M |
US $ 200 M – billions |
Typical holding period |
8 – 10 years |
6 – 8 years |
5 – 7 years |
3 – 7 years |
3 – 5 years |
Targeted financial returns |
> 75 % IRR or + 10 x |
> 60 % IRR or + 10 x |
> 40 % IRR or + 7 x |
~ 25 to 35 % IRR or + 5 x |
> 18 % IRR or + 3 x |
Financing stage and investment type |
Initial raise, friends and family, angel investors |
Seed capital, first institutional check |
Growth capital, Series A to C rounds with full due dilligence |
Series C round to IPO with full prospectus |
Majority control, debt leveraged |
Typical technology maturity( TRL) |
1 – 3 |
2 – 4 |
4 – 7 |
7 – 8 |
8 – 9 |
Example decarbonisation technologies |
Developments of emerging and established technologies |
H 2 |
MOF |
Tech
SOEC / AEM
|
Tech |
PEM / AEC |
Projects
Solvent
|
sectors. For example, woven, knitted, and sintered meshes are used for filters in the automotive and chemical sectors in addition to being used as components in electrolyser stacks.
The tail may therefore begin to wag the dog, with leading critical component manufacturers that enjoy a strong and diverse revenue stream acquiring electrolyser stack builders to add value to their components.
Manufacturing makes the difference
Producers of high-tech manufacturing equipment spanning multiple sectors may take over startups that have entered their field. For example, builders of ALD coating machines for the semiconductor industry may take on similar technology providers working on electrolyser electrode ALD coating equipment, such as SparkNano.
porous transport layers( PTLs) with electrode catalysts to develop innovative PTEs( porous transport electrodes).
Established players with a broad range of sector coverage will have sufficient resources and cash from other business units to drive consolidation in the electrolyser component space.
Leveraging manufacturing expertise, notably in the automotive sector, is an established entry route for stack builders. Schaeffler, Bosch, and ElringKlinger are notable examples.
Or, we may see players with decades of customised and standardised product manufacturing for the automotive industry take a deeper position with their partners. The relationship between Purem and Topsoe for high-temperature solid oxide electrolyser assembly is a case in point.
Close to this concept is the Swedish company Smoltek, which has a track record in carbon nanofibre expertise in the semiconductor industry. This technology is now being applied to coat
Going shopping
Capitalising on the next wave of hydrogen opportunities will be more of a value play than a growth play. The VC era is over; those heady
Hydrogen Tech World | Issue 21 | April 2025 21