OXCCU raises funding to transform CO2 into SAF

Amid global efforts to decarbonize transportation emissions, attention is turning to aviation, as evidenced by new sustainable aviation fuel mandates from the European Union’s ReFuelEU Aviation Standard to the U.S.’s Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and Sustainable Skies Act. Buoyed by increasingly stringent regulations, investors, energy companies and the aviation industry are focusing attention on low-cost, innovative and carbon-neutral solutions.

In that specific scenario, OXCCU, a leading carbon-to-value company converting carbon dioxide and hydrogen into industrial and consumer products, has completed a €20.6 million Series A financing to commercialize cost-effective sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

The round was led by Clean Energy Ventures with participation from investors Aramco Ventures; Eni Next, the corporate venture arm of Italian energy company Eni; United Airlines Ventures Sustainable Flight FundSM; and Braavos Capital alongside existing investor Kiko Ventures (IP Group’s cleantech investment platform), and University of Oxford. Trafigura, TechEnergy Ventures and Doral Energy-Tech Ventures also participated in the financing.

Leveraging the funding, OXCCU plans to accelerate its path to market by scaling its catalytic approach to convert hydrogen and carbon dioxide into SAF and other sustainable fuels. While the SAF market is still in development, jet fuel alternatives are already estimated to be costly as most synthesis processes from carbon dioxide require two capital-intensive steps.

Founded in 2021, OXCCU’s technology consolidates the traditional e-hydrocarbons production process from a two-step Reverse Water Gas Shift (RWGS) and Fischer Tropsch (F-T) reaction to a one-step catalytic conversion that offers a radically cost-effective solution. Available to customers as OXEFUELTM, OXCCU’s sustainable aviation fuel is created by combining captured carbon dioxide and renewably-sourced green hydrogen through a novel catalyst, resulting in a more cost-effective and decarbonized alternative to fossil-based jet fuel for commercial airlines.

Airlines have consistently maintained that the cost competitiveness of SAF is their biggest barrier to adoption, and based on projected renewable energy costs in key production locations, OXCCU’s technology can achieve cost parity. Modeling completed by independent researchers from Imperial College London, through Imperial Consultants, has shown that OXCCU’s one-step process significantly reduces SAF cost due to higher selectivity yield in the jet fuel range and a 50% lower capital cost.  

OXCCU was spun out by expert scientists and technologists at the University of Oxford. Its mission is to address the rapidly growing market demand for fuels to meet SAF regulations as well as for the petrochemicals, surfactants, synthetic lubricants and plastics markets. Leveraging this funding round, OXCCU expects to scale-up the technology, expand its facilities, and double its team in the UK.