Vertus Energy, a Waste-to-X industrial biotech startup specialising in advanced control of bacteria behaviour, has closed an €8.75 million seed funding round. The funding, led by Energy Capital Ventures and joined by Blackbird, the Amadeus APEX Technology Fund and Aussie Angels, alongside all their existing investors, will be used to scale the firm’s flagship product, BRIO, into pilot projects.
BRIO – a product of extensive research and development – is a revolutionary biogas technology that generates biomethane up to 3 times faster than currently possible and boosts energy production by up to 60% from the same amount of waste.
The new funding will be directed towards accelerating the adoption of the BRIO technology in commercial units across various applications, from full-scale wastewater treatment plants to large-scale biogas plants, that are integral components of the renewable energy ecosystem.
Founded in 2021, Vertus Energy is a Waste-to-X industrial biotech startup specialising in advanced control of bacteria behaviour. Encouraged by the region’s ambitious biomethane production agenda, the company made the strategic move of establishing its regional HQ in Vienna, Austria, to expand influence across the breadth of Europe and the UK, where existing AD plant infrastructure increased by 30% to reach a total of 1,322 biomethane-producing facilities by April 2023.
Leading the operations from the UK, Co-founder and COO, Benjamin Howard will focus on delivering Vertus Energy projects across Europe and implementing a strategy for global commercialisation.
“Vertus Energy is determined to radically improve access to sustainable energy and help Europe meet its renewable energy objectives,” he said. “Thanks to the backing of our proprietary BRIO technology by world-class investors, we’re able to deliver some key objectives.”
The global biogas market is projected to grow at around 5.2% annually from 2020 to 2030, reaching $86.7 billion by 2030. Europe is expected to be one of the major players in this field, having set biomethane production targets to reach 35 billion cubic metres (bcm) per year by 2030.
Vic Pascucci, Managing General Partner and Cofounder of Energy Capital Ventures, commented: “As the only venture capital fund solely dedicated to green molecules™, we have devoted the last several years to analysing technologies and start-ups in biogas, biomethanation and renewable natural gas. It was abundantly clear from our exhaustive due diligence that Vertus Energy’s technology, commercial progress and team were far superior to anything in the market. We backed Vertus Energy because they have a fantastic team, clearly demonstrative technology and verifiable results that vastly surpass competitive options.”
For Wolfgang Neubert, General Partner at the Amadeus APEX Technology Fund, it was the scientific data that drew them to invest. He added: “We were impressed by Vertus’ commitment to deep-tech innovation and their solid foundation of scientific data. It aligned perfectly with our focus on supporting companies that are not only driven by innovation but also committed to sustainability. Looking through a long-term lens, we are excited by BRIO’s potential for further advancements in the biogas market and look forward to uncovering those broader possibilities, with Vertus being positioned at the forefront of the sustainable energy push.”
