AZUL Energy Raised ¥475 Million ($3.2 Million) in Series A Funding

AZUL Energy, a clean chemistry startup that develops catalysts for next-generation energy systems, announced that it has raised ¥475 million in Series A funding. The company has developed a high-performance catalyst that offers the same performance as rare metal catalysts (such as platinum) but without the high costs or significant resource constraints. They intend to implement it in various applications to promote a decarbonized and recycling-oriented society.

"Since the previous fundraising in 2021, we have provided samples to customers developing and manufacturing fuel cells, metal-air batteries, and water electrolyzers, and have conducted demonstration tests for full-scale adoption," says Koju Ito, CEO at AZUL Energy. "With this new financing, we will promote the mass production of our proprietary catalyst and its electrode sheet. We will also promote business development overseas through the network developed in the MassChallenge program".

This new round of funding was led by Spiral Capital, Inc., with participation from TOHOKU University Venture Partners Co., Ltd., JMTC Capital LLC, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital Co., Ltd., Governance Partners Inc., and existing investor Spurcle Inc., totaling six companies in a third-party allotment of new shares.

"We are very pleased to be investing in AZUL Energy," says Mr. Akitomo Naoi, Senior Associate at Spiral Capital, Inc. "In recent years, with the rapid progress in social implementation of renewable energy worldwide, Long Duration Energy Storage (LDES) technology has become one of the Climate Tech trends to watch. AZUL Energy's rare-metal-free catalyst is a promising technology for LDES as it enables hydrogen energy and battery energy storage, an innovation that attracted us to invest. We look forward to supporting this as a new catalyst platform that will lead the way to a decarbonized society."

About AZUL Energy: Established in 2019, AZUL Energy is developing high-performance catalysts invented by Tohoku University for next-generation energy systems. Although rare metal catalysts such as platinum are used in hydrogen energy systems and are expected to reduce CO2 emissions, they are costly and have significant resource constraints. AZUL Energy's catalysts are lower cost and free of resource constraints, contributing to a more sustainable society.

High-Performance Catalysts Business: R&D, manufacturing, and sales of catalytic electrodes used for the oxygen reduction reaction in fuel cells and metal-air batteries, as well as water electrolysis catalysts to improve performance and reduce costs in green hydrogen production.