Sunfire raises more than 100 million euros

The hydrogen start-up wants to use the money to finance its first production facility in Germany. The company is also working on a new electrolysis technology.

Dresden-based start-up Sunfire has successfully closed its Series D financing round. The round is worth €109 million and is led by private equity firm Lightrock and VC Planet First Partners. Also participating are Carbon Direct Capital Management and HydrogenOne Capital, as well as some existing investors.

Sunfire CEO Nils Aldag co-founded Sunrise in 2010 with Christian von Olshausen and Carl Berninghausen. The company initially produced synthetic fuels, but then after some acquisitions, started to produce electrolyzers for the production of hydrogen. The electrolyzer breaks down water into hydrogen and oxygen. On the one hand, Sunrise relies on alkaline electrolysis for this. A production facility for this technology is to be built in Germany by 2023. In parallel, the founders are working on developing a solid oxide electrolysis technology that should make it easier to replace everything previously produced from crude oil, from aviation fuel to diesel.

"Sunfire's unique technologies will lower the cost of producing green hydrogen and help establish a competitive hydrogen value chain," Lightrock partner Kevin Bone said of his firm's investment decision.