A London-based company enabling energy security through synthetic fuels has raised £10m in funding.
Rivan will use the capital for R&D on its electrolyser, direct-air-capture (DAC) and Sabatier reactor modules, as well as scaling its pilot plant up to 1MW.
Starting with synthetic natural gas (SNG), the company is looking to address the 22 per cent of global emissions that stem from heavy industry’s reliance on natural gas for steel, cement and chemical production.
These sectors cannot be easily electrified and have few cost-effective decarbonisation options. Rivan’s modular plants, powered by off-grid solar and injecting SNG into pipelines across the UK and Europe, aim to provide that solution.
The firm designs and manufactures its systems at a 10,000 sq ft factory in Bermondsey, South London, and has deployed its first 100kW pilot at a decommissioned UK military base.
“Capturing the 12 gigatonnes of carbon emitted every year by heavy industry is one of the defining challenges of our time. For hard-to-abate industries like steel, cement, aviation and chemicals, neither carbon credits nor batteries paired with renewables provide a realistic solution,” said Harvey Hodd, founder and CEO of Rivan.
“Until we develop cost-effective synthetic fuels from carbon captured from the air, we can’t expect industry to decarbonise. My hope is that our technology, combined with the unbelievably talented and driven team I get to work with everyday, can forge that future a reality.
“This is particularly important in the UK and Europe — where low domestic production and limited storage have hurt industry, and where we hope to lead by example to show that synthetic fuels can be competitive with fossil fuels to deliver long-term energy security.”
The round was led by Plural, with participation from 20VC, NFDG (Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross) and prominent angel investors Patrick and John Collison.
Taavet Hinrikus, partner at Plural, added: “Harvey embodies the entrepreneur we back at Plural: scar tissue from scaling previous businesses and the drive to positively impact GDP and the world.
“Rivan is manufacturing vertically-integrated machines in Bermondsey and deploying them to solar-powered, off-grid sites to make carbon capture economically viable and achieve optimum costs and performance.
“With this ambition and Harvey’s background, I’m excited to be a part of Rivan’s mission to transform energy security and tackle the climate crisis once and for all.”
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