Milan-based Tulum Energy, a startup specializing in clean hydrogen solutions for industrial applications, has secured €22.9 million in a Seed funding round. TDK Ventures and CDP Venture Capital co-led this significant investment. Doral Energy-Tech Ventures, MITO Tech Ventures, and TechEnergy Ventures also participated in the round.
Founded in 2024, Tulum Energy spun out of Techint Group, a global leader in steel, engineering, and energy. The company focuses on providing a scalable, efficient, and cost-effective alternative to conventional hydrogen production. Tulum aims to commercialize a novel approach to hydrogen generation.
This innovative method utilizes proven electric arc furnace (EAF) technology, commonly found in steel production. Tulum’s configuration for hydrogen production targets levelized costs comparable to conventional grey hydrogen. Furthermore, the technology achieves up to a 95% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
Advancing Scalable Hydrogen Technology
The proceeds from this oversubscribed Seed round will fund the construction of Tulum Energy’s inaugural pilot plant. This facility will be located in Pesquería, Mexico, within the industrial complex of Ternium. Ternium, Latin America’s leading steel company, is also part of the Techint Group.
Tulum Energy’s approach to hydrogen generation addresses high costs and infrastructure challenges faced by alternative clean hydrogen solutions. Notably, its technology offers high efficiency, requiring approximately five times less energy than leading green hydrogen methods. The scalability of repurposing EAF technology, already used at over 100 MW capacity, allows Tulum to meet the massive scale demands of existing hydrogen users. This positions them uniquely against other players in the hydrogen market, such as Nel Hydrogen, which focuses on electrolyzer technology, or Plug Power, known for its fuel cell and hydrogen ecosystem.
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Additionally, the company anticipates production costs on par with grey hydrogen, even without subsidies. This non-catalytic technology also requires eight times less land than green hydrogen facilities. Consequently, it enables on-site production and reduces transportation costs for industrial applications.
Tulum Energy is led by CEO and Co-founder Massimiliano Pieri and CTO Donald Kendrick.
