Completion of 300 Million JPY Seed Funding Round

pHydrogen Inc. Raises JPY 300 Million in Seed Funding to Advance Cost-Effective Seawater Electrolysis for Green Hydrogen Production

Tokyo-based pHydrogen Inc. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Takahiro Hida), a startup aiming to significantly reduce the cost of green hydrogen production through seawater electrolysis, is pleased to announce the successful completion of a JPY 300 million seed funding round. The round was led by Incubate Fund KK (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; General Partners: Tohru Akaura, Masahiko Homma, Keisuke Wada, Yusuke Murata, and Paul McInerney) through a third-party allotment of new shares.

About the Company

Green hydrogen and ammonia derived from renewable energy are essential to realizing Green Transformation (GX). With over JPY 100 trillion in projected investment, the hydrogen market is undergoing a massive industrial transformation. However, two critical challenges remain: drastically lowering hydrogen production costs and ensuring stable, large-scale supply. Reliance on costly precious metals and large volumes of freshwater remain key hurdles to overcome.

pHydrogen Inc. , a University of Tokyo spin-off from the Takanabe Laboratory, directly addresses these challenges. We have successfully developed a cost-competitive seawater electrolysis system using earth-abundant base metals and widely available seawater. This innovation enables significant cost reduction and scalable hydrogen production in diverse locations, contributing to the creation of a resilient and sustainable hydrogen supply chain.

Future Outlook

We are accelerating the scale-up of our seawater electrolysis system to establish ourselves as a next-generation water electrolyzer manufacturer. In parallel with demonstration projects, we will advance R&D and strategic partnerships to enhance performance and scalability. Our technology is designed to enable on-site hydrogen production in coastal regions and large-scale deployment in areas facing freshwater scarcity. The newly raised funds will be used to recruit key engineering and executive talent to lead the execution of these strategic initiatives.