July 20, 2023
By CTECH

Nitrofix raises $3.1 million Seed to produce ammonia from water and air

Nitrofix, which produces zero-emission ammonia through a novel electrochemical process, announced on Thursday $3.1 million in Seed financing. The Israeli startup plans to accelerate the production of green ammonia from just water and air for the agriculture, hydrogen, and maritime fuel markets. The round was led by Clean Energy Ventures, with participation from SOSV, Zero Carbon Capital, UM6P Ventures, and High House Investments.
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Developed by Professor Ronny Neumann at the Weizmann Institute of Science, one of the world’s leading multidisciplinary research institutions in the natural and exact sciences, Nitrofix’s technology provides a cost-effective and zero-emission electrochemical approach to ammonia production. Unlike traditional carbon-intensive ammonia methods, the company’s low-cost and selective catalyst for ammonia enables the reaction at low-voltage and low-power consumption, producing green ammonia from water and air and reducing gigatons of carbon emissions at cost parity.
 

Nitrofix co-founders Ophira Melamed and Meital Alon. (Nitrofix)

Nitrofix is headed by CEO Ophira Melamed and CTO Meital Alon, both of whom are co-founders.
By using water as a source of protons instead of fossil fuels, the technology reduces the activation energy needed to combine nitrogen with hydrogen – using half as much electricity as peers in the sector – enables decentralized production of ammonia and has the advantage of scaling to a distributed model. With ammonia demand expected to increase threefold by 2050, Nitrofix aims to create a more sustainable use of ammonia for industries, such as fertilizers for food, coolants in air conditioning, and maritime fuel for the transport of essential goods.
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According to the company, over 50% of global food production today is dependent upon access to ammonia, which also serves as a crucial input for maritime fuel, hydrogen (as an energy carrier), cooling, and polymers. Though essential for these industries, ammonia is one of the most emissions-intensive commodities, producing 2.5 tons of CO2 for every ton of ammonia produced.
“Nitrofix’s approach to green ammonia production is changing how the agriculture, shipping, and polymers industries can track toward carbon-neutral outputs to reach their global decarbonization goals by 2050,” said Daniel Goldman, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Clean Energy Ventures. “Out of the many green ammonia companies we assessed, Nitrofix was the only company to disrupt the conventional fossil energy and carbon-intensive Haber-Bosch approach and create an economic path to decarbonizing a global industry.”