2 minute read | January.22.2024
TDK Ventures, a subsidiary of TDK USA Corporation – through its new energy transformation Fund Ex1 – has participated in a Series B funding round that raised more than $129 million for INERATEC, a pioneering e-fuel company.
Orrick represented TDK Ventures.
Piva Capital led the round. Other investors included HG Ventures, Copec WIND Ventures, The Rock Creek Group, Emerald Ventures and Samsung Ventures, as well as current investors, including large corporate investors ENGIE New Ventures, Safran Ventures and a Japanese multinational automobile company.
TDK Ventures invests in startups to bolster innovation in materials science, energy/power and related areas typically underrepresented in venture capital portfolios. Established in 2019, the company's vision is to propel the digital and energy transformations of segments such as next-generation transportation, robotics and industrial, mixed reality and the wider IoT/IIoT markets.
TDK USA Corporation is a subsidiary of TDK Corporation, which is a public company based in Tokyo, Japan. TDK Corporation is a world leader in electronic solutions for the smart society.
INERATEC is a pioneer in the field of Power-to-Liquid applications. The company supplies sustainable e-fuels as well as chemical products. INERATEC is poised to lead the shift toward cleaner fuel solutions and drive the future of transportation.
INERATEC will use the new capital to start the mass production of its industrial-scale Power-to-X plants worldwide and advance the production of e-fuels made from recycled CO2 and renewable energy. Additionally, the company has begun construction of its largest plant to date, in Frankfurt, Germany. It also is expanding in the Netherlands and Chile.
The financing will “propel the company into its next phase of sustainable mobility,” TDK Ventures said in a statement. It also “will accelerate production and commercialization of the company’s carbon-neutral e-fuel.”
“Every year, more than 4,000 million tons of fossil crude oil worldwide are processed into fuels and chemical products with much of the demand coming from hard-to-abate industries,” said Nicolas Sauvage, TDK Ventures President.
“We believe INERATEC’s innovative technology for producing e-fuels is the best solution and highly suited for the myriad of applications within this sector. We are delighted to be a part of INERATEC Series B funding and eager to see its technology at work in helping the world reduce or negate its dependency on fossil fuels.”
Ellen Ehrenpreis led the Orrick team advising TDK Ventures. The team also included Dr. Johannes Rüberg, David Hamala, Jake Routhier and Martha Verhaelen.