Green hydrogen startup Hydgen raises $5 million from Transition Venture capital, others

Hydgen, a deeptech startup developing on-site green hydrogen for industrial use cases, has raised pre-series A funding of $5 million in an equity-debt mix round led by Transition Venture capital. Cloudberry Pioneer Investments (Europe), Moringa Ventures (Singapore), and strategic family offices from India and Singapore also participated in the round.

The funds raised will be used to make clean, low-cost hydrogen available directly at the point of use using Hydgen’s proprietary AEM electrolyser, a system that splits water into hydrogen using electricity and a membrane.

"We're investing in R&D and product certification, upgrading our manual assembly line to semi-automation for higher consistency and quality, and expanding our go-to-market to scale faster,” Michael Gryseels, chairman of Hydgen, told ET.


The Mangalore-based startup already has systems deployed with clients across India and Southeast Asia, and is expanding into the Middle East.

“Our AEM electrolyzers allow companies to produce hydrogen on-site at a competitive cost, solving supply chain challenges today while preparing them for the broader transition to green hydrogen in the years ahead,” said Manipaddy Krishna Kumar, cofounder and COO of the company.

“Hydgen is the first team we’ve seen capable of scaling AEM electrolysers to true industrial levels while maintaining cost leadership,” added Mohamed Shoeb Ali, Managing Partner at Transition VC. “This is no longer a research initiative but a commercially ready platform serving industries already dependent on hydrogen today.”

Startups such as Hygenco Green Energies are planning to invest $2.5 billion over the next three years to set up green hydrogen units across India, as ET had reported.

Earlier this year, Pralhad Joshi, Union Minister for Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs, launched a Rs 100 crore scheme aimed at supporting startups innovating in green hydrogen production, also reported by ET earlier this year.