Shinhan, POSCO invest $20 mn in Australian hydrogen startup Hysata

South Korean steel giant POSCO Holdings Inc. and banking conglomerate Shinhan Financial Group have invested a combined US$20 million in Australian green hydrogen technology startup Hysata.

Shinhan Securities Co. said on Friday the two Korean companies participated in Hysata’s US$111 million Series B funding, billed as the largest in Australian clean tech history.

Shinhan and POSCO joined the funding round through a Korean fund, in which the two firm’s affiliates, including POSCO E&C, Shinhan Bank and Shinhan Capital, invested as limited partners or LP investors.

Shinhan Securities is the operating manager of the Korean fund.

POSCO, which is eyeing hydrogen production for use in the manufacture of green iron and steel, and Shinhan said they are participating in Hysata’s funding round as strategic and financial investors.

Established in 2021, Wollongong-based Hysata produces high-efficiency electrolyzers, aimed at delivering low-cost green hydrogen and accelerating the shift from fossil fuels.

Hysata said it is developing a highly efficient electrolyzer that reduces the amount of electricity required to separate water into hydrogen and oxygen for the production of hydrogen.

Hydrogen is viewed as one of the key building blocks of the transition to a cleaner energy future. The development of clean hydrogen capacity, such as green hydrogen, which uses renewable energy to power the process of extracting hydrogen from other materials, will require massive investments in areas including infrastructure, electrolysis, transport and storage.

NEW STRATEGIC, FINANCIAL INVESTORS

Hysata said it will use proceeds from the funding to expand production capacity at its manufacturing facility in Wollongong, New South Wales and to further develop its technology as it aims to reach gigawatt-scale manufacturing.

BP Ventures, a capital arm of global energy firm BP Plc, and Hong Kong-based investment fund Templewater led the Series B funding, backed by existing major strategic and financial investors IP Group Australia, Kiko Ventures, IP Group plc’s cleantech platform, Virescent Ventures on behalf of Clean Energy Finance Corp., Hostplus, Vestas Ventures, the investment unit of wind power turbine maker Vestas, and BlueScopeX.

New major strategic and financial investors include POSCO Holdings, POSCO E&C, Shinhan Financial Group, IMM Investment Hong Kong, Twin Towers Ventures, Oman Investment Authority’s venture capital arm IDO and TelstraSuper.

“Besides investing in green hydrogen companies like Hysata, we are also looking for investment opportunities in other growth industries such as data centers and AI this year,” said Park Shin-wha, head of global investment at Shinhan Securities.

Chun Seong-rae, chief of POSCO Holdings’ carbon neutrality team, said: “We need to build a low-carbon steel production facility for sustainable growth. POSCO will actively pursue low-carbon technologies to remain competitive in the steel industry.”

Write to Ahla Cho at rrang123@hankyung.com

In-Soo Nam edited this article.