Hydrogen startup Utility Global nets $25M

Utility Global, a Texas-based industrial hydrogen startup, raised $25 million in Series B funding and appointed Claus Nussgruber as CEO, the company exclusively tells Axios.

Why it matters: Hydrogen production is still a nascent, albeit growing, sector within the industrial sector of climate technology.

Details: Existing investor Ara Partners led the round and is gaining two board seats as part of the deal. Samsung Ventures, NOVA by Saint-Gobain and Aramco also joined the round as strategic investors.

• Ara Partners partner Cory Steffek tells Axios there is a venture debt facility as part of the round that is expected to close in the coming weeks.
• Ara Partners closed the deal roughly 60 days ago, but kept the round open for strategic investors.
• Nussgruber's 30 years of commercial experience is advantageous as the company prepares to ramp up commercial production, Steffek says.

How it works: Utility Global produces hydrogen using waste gases from industrial processes like steel production and petrochemical refining.

• It builds a wholly owned and operated facility on-site at a plant and uses waste gas as feedstock in an oxidation process called eXERO, which it says doesn't use electricity.
• It is currently running a pilot in a small-scale facility in Houston, but has signed additional customers at larger scales for trials, Nussgruber tells Axios.

Of note: Nussgruber says that the company is also open to exploring the carbon markets as an additional revenue stream.

• It can manage credits on customers' behalf or purchase existing credits for its projects, he says.