This significant investment will fund the construction of a pilot plant in Mexico and establish an R&D hub in Milan, aiming to provide a competitive and sustainable solution for industrial decarbonization.
Tulum Energy, a trailblazing startup focused on methane pyrolysis, has announced the successful completion of a $27 million venture financing round. This substantial investment, spearheaded by CDP Venture Capital's Green Transition Fund and TDK Ventures, along with a global consortium of key investors including Tulum's founder TechEnergy Ventures, MITO Technology (through the MITO Tech Ventures fund), and Doral Energy Tech Ventures, signals strong market confidence in Tulum Energy's groundbreaking approach to clean hydrogen production.
Tulum Energy is at the forefront of developing a revolutionary methane pyrolysis technology. This chemical process generates clean, or "turquoise," hydrogen and solid carbon from natural gas or biogas, crucially without emitting CO2. This method aims to overcome the economic and infrastructural limitations often associated with green and blue hydrogen in large-scale industrial decarbonization efforts.
"The distinguishing feature of our technology is its unmatched combination of high scalability and exceptional energy efficiency," stated Massimiliano Pieri, CEO of Tulum Energy. He emphasized that this unique combination allows the company to meet the substantial demands of major industrial hydrogen consumers, such as refineries, ammonia producers, and chemical plants, at genuinely competitive costs, even without relying on tax credits and incentives.
Pieri further elaborated on the core innovation, revealing, "The core innovation lies in the repurposing of existing, commercially available machinery from the steelmaking industry to produce turquoise hydrogen. We are essentially readapting an electric arc furnace as a high-temperature heat source to crack methane molecules, yielding clean hydrogen and valuable solid carbon, rather than smelting iron."
The proceeds from this seed funding round are earmarked for two key initiatives. Firstly, they will fund the construction of the company’s pilot plant in Pesquería, Mexico. This plant will be situated within the industrial complex of Ternium, a leading steel producer in the Americas. Pieri noted, "Ternium is the perfect partner to host our initial operations. They have an interest in utilizing our hydrogen for direct reduced iron (DRI) production, and they possess the robust infrastructure we need for seamless scaling."
Secondly, the investment will facilitate the launch of Tulum Energy’s Italian subsidiary in Milan. This Milanese hub will serve as the central point for research, development, and engineering activities for both the pilot plant and subsequent commercial plants that Tulum plans to develop, leveraging Italy's manufacturing supply chain and talent pool.
With the global demand for hydrogen in existing industrial applications projected to at least double in the coming decades, and industries worldwide urgently seeking cost-effective decarbonization pathways, Tulum Energy is well-positioned to offer a viable, scalable, and economically compelling alternative to traditional hydrogen production methods.
