Vancouver’s Ionomr Innovations has secured an $18.7 million Series A round led by Finindus and Shell Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Royal Dutch Shell.
Other investors that committed to the financing include Chevron Technology Ventures, NGIF Cleantech Ventures, and Pallasite Ventures.
Spun out of Simon Fraser University, Ionomr was co-founded by Benjamin Britton and Tim Peckham in 2018 with a mission to advance the development and manufacture of ion-exchange membranes and polymers. The startup currently employs 31 people at its research and manufacturing facilities.
Ionomr claims its materials can make more efficient, cost-competitive solutions for the hydrogen economy and eliminates the need for expensive precious metal requirements for hydrogen production and CO2 electrolysis. Its Pemion and Aemion technologies can be leveraged for fuel cells, hydrogen production, carbon utilization, and advanced energy storage.
Its Aemion technology unlocks high temperature alkaline electrochemistry, which increases efficiency and decreases capital costs. Pemion provides higher performance and lower gas crossover while eliminating environmental concerns of fluorine.
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Green hydrogen production, hydrogen fuel cells and efficient carbon utilization are critical to reducing emissions in hard to decarbonize heavy industries, according to Ionomr CEO Bill Haberlin.
“The backing of these industry partners will allow us to significantly accelerate scale-up and deployment and realize our potential for revolutionizing the enabling materials in this field,” he added.
The company has previously received several grants from federal and provincial government entities. According to Crunchbase data, Ionomr received a $2.35 million grant from the British Columbia Innovative Clean Energy Fund in 2018, alongside another $2.35 million grant from Sustainable Development Technology Canada.
Most recently, Ionomr was awarded with a development grant from Chilean company Molymet as part of the Re-Imagine Challenge, a contest for the development of green hydrogen using rhenium.
Among more than 10,000 entrepreneurs, Ionomr was also named in Cleantech Group’s list of 100 companies committed to taking action on the climate crisis.