Metafuels closes financing with 9 million dollars

(CONNECT) Metafuels has raised 9 million dollars in investment in its latest financing round, according to a company announcement. The Zurich-based climate technology start-up has been working on the development of a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) called e-SAF, which is produced using renewable energy, since 2019.

The financing round was led by London-based Celsius Industries, which focuses on accelerating sustainable technologies on an industrial scale. Their representative Michele Tarawneh is now a member of the Board of Directors of Metafuels. The venture capital firms RockCreek from Washington D.C., Fortescue Capital from East Perth, Australia, and Verve Ventures from Zurich have also invested. Existing investors Contrarian Ventures from Berlin and New York-based Energy Impact Partners also took part.

As the company explains, this financing round follows several technological breakthroughs in 2023 and 2024. For example, Metafuels and its technology partner, the Paul Scherrer Institute(PSI), were able to build an e-SAF pilot plant on the PSI site in 2024 thanks to a grant of CHF 4.4 million from the Swiss Federal Office of Energy. The jointly developed aerobrew technology is used here, in which green methanol is converted into e-SAF using CO2 from the atmosphere or other biogenic sources. Aerobrew-e-SAF can seamlessly replace conventional kerosene, regardless of the size or type of aircraft.

"The investment round will help us to demonstrate our production process and drive forward the development of our first industrial-scale projects," the press release states. In addition to the demonstration site at PSI, a production facility will be set up in Denmark. More are to follow. ce/mm