Trucks Venture Capital, Collaborative Fund, Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, United Airlines Ventures Sustainable Flight Fund, Newlab and other strategic investors back Verne’s cryo-compressed hydrogen storage technology

San Francisco, CA, April 18, 2024 - Verne, a leading developer of high-density hydrogen storage systems, today announced a strategic fundraise led by Trucks Venture Capital, with participation from existing investors Collaborative Fund and Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, and new investors United Airlines Ventures Sustainable Flight Fund and Newlab. The new funding will enable Verne to accelerate development of their cryo-compressed hydrogen (CcH2) technology for on-board hydrogen storage for heavy-duty vehicles. The investment brings Verne’s total funding to $15.5M including grant funding.

Read the full press release
Read the Forbes article

Verne was highlited in a recent Time article "The Challenge of Decarbonizing Long-Haul Trucking":

While there are a handful of hydrogen-powered cars, there currently aren’t any hydrogen-powered trucks. But San Francisco-based startup Verne, is one company trying to change that. It says its technology doubles the density of conventional hydrogen in each tank, thereby increasing the energy available and allowing trucks to travel farther. “Our goal is to make sure trucks can make sure they maintain diesel parity [with] a full range and a full payload and the same refueling time,” says Ted McKlveen, Verne’s co-founder, and chief executive.

Ultimately, it might not be an either-or situation. McKlveen thinks there’s room for electric-powered trucks and hydrogen-fueled ones to coexist. Electric might be the better choice for short trips, while hydrogen could power vehicles that travel cross country.

Read the full article: https://time.com/collection/time-co2-futures/6766439/electric-long-haul-trucking/

Verne joined the Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE). CTE is a nonprofit organization that develops, promotes, and implements advanced transportation technologies, vehicles, and fuels that reduce environmental pollution and fossil fuel dependency. Verne and CTE will continue working together to accelerate the adoption of zero-emission heavy-duty transportation!

Verne was named among the recipients of commercialization support from the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Technology Transitions' voucher program. The voucher program provides support to accelerate market adoption of clean energy technologies.

Verne's award will support development of at-scale manufacturing for cryo-compressed hydrogen systems.
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"It takes a breadth of tools and expertise to bring an innovative technology from research and development to deployment. The Voucher Program will pair 111 clean energy solutions with the support they need from expert voucher providers to help usher new technologies to market” said DOE Chief Commercialization Officer and Director of the DOE Office of Technology Transitions, Dr. Vanessa Chan.

Verne has been selected as a Top Innovator in Sustainable Aviation by the Uplink World Economic Forum! Verne’s cryo-compressed hydrogen technology helps hydrogen aircraft extend range and reduce fuel costs. We're thrilled to work alongside the 15 other Top Innovators and the challenge partners to bring innovative decarbonization solutions to the aviation industry.

Read more about the Uplink Sustainable Aviation program here: https://uplink.weforum.org/uplink/s/uplink-issue/a002o0000174PRGAA2/sustainable-aviation-challenge

Denser form of hydrogen storage promises faster refueling and lower costs for hydrogen aviation

Hollister, CA & San Francisco, CA, January 16, 2024 — ZeroAvia and Verne today announced that they have signed an MOU to jointly evaluate the opportunities for using cryo-compressed hydrogen (CcH2) on-board aircraft and for conducting CcH2 refueling from gaseous hydrogen (GH2) and liquid hydrogen (LH2) sources.

ZeroAvia is a leader in zero-emission aviation, focused on developing hydrogen-electric engines for all types of aircraft as the most environmentally and economically-friendly solution for the industry’s growing climate change impact. Aviation accounts for ten percent of all U.S. transportation greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and three percent of total U.S. GHG emissions, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Verne is a hydrogen storage and refueling technology startup focused on solutions using cryo-compressed hydrogen for heavy-duty transportation. Cryo-compressed hydrogen stores gaseous hydrogen at cold temperatures, increasing the energy density of the fuel, which could enable a longer range compared to GH2 powered aircraft.

According to analysis by Verne, cryo-compressed hydrogen can achieve 40 percent greater usable hydrogen density than liquid hydrogen and 200 percent greater usable hydrogen density than 350 bar gaseous hydrogen. Additionally, the application of cryo-compressed hydrogen promises to significantly reduce the cost of densification and refueling time, increase dormancy time relative to LH2 systems, and potentially eliminate venting for pressure management.

ZeroAvia and Verne will assess the potential benefits of scaling CcH2 storage and refueling infrastructure at airports across the world, as hydrogen-electric propulsion scales to support larger and larger aircraft. The two companies will also work together to develop a model for initial airport locations in California.

Access the full press release: https://zeroavia.com/zeroavia-and-verne-partner-to-explore-cryo-compressed-hydrogen-for-airports-and-aircraft/

About Verne

Verne is commercializing high-density hydrogen platforms for the heavy-duty transportation industry. Verne’s cryo-compressed hydrogen platform can unlock zero-emission operations in sectors including aviation, trucking, port vehicles and hydrogen distribution. Verne has Letters of Intent for hundreds of Class 8 trucks and is working with multiple of the leading OEMs. Verne is financially supported by Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, Caterpillar Venture Capital, and Collaborative Fund. Verne is also supported by Breakthrough Energy Fellows and the Department of Energy’s ARPA-E. For more information, please visit verneh2.com and follow Verne on LinkedIn and X @VerneH2.

Company contact:
David Jaramillo, CTO & Co-Founder; contact@verneh2.com

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About ZeroAvia

ZeroAvia is a leader in zero-emission aviation with the mission of delivering a hydrogen-electric engine in every aircraft as the most environmentally and economically friendly solution for addressing the industry’s climate impact. The company is starting with engines to support a 300-mile range in 9–19 seat aircraft by the end of 2025, and up to 700-mile range in 40–80 seat aircraft by 2027. Founded in California and now with thriving teams also in Everett, WA and the United Kingdom, ZeroAvia has secured experimental certificates to test its engines in three separate testbed aircraft with the FAA and CAA and passed significant flight test milestones. The company has signed a number of key engineering partnerships with major aircraft OEMs and has nearly 2,000 pre-orders for engines from a number of the major global airlines, with future revenue potential over $10bn. For more, please visit ZeroAvia.com, follow @ZeroAvia on Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.