Agriculture sustainability-focused startup NitroVolt announced that it has raised €3.5 million euros (USD$3.7 million) in seed funding, with proceeds to be used to help to commercialize its system for producing ammonia for farmers with a minimal carbon impact.

Ammonia is used extensively in a number of areas, especially agriculture as a key ingredient in nitrogen fertilizers. Production of fertilizers such as nitrogen is an energy intensive process that, when it uses fossil fuels, contributes an estimated 2% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. on par with the global aviation industry. In addition, ammonia is synthesized in large, centralized facilities, far away from the point-of-use, leading to additional CO2 emissions from distribution. According to NitroVolt, the ammonia supply chain is also highly exposed to global events and political disruptions, as evidenced by drastic price increases due to the Covid pandemic and war in Ukraine. Currently, Russia is the world’s largest exporter of ammonia, followed by China and the Middle East, making development of alternative ammonia sources a necessity, given today’s geopolitical environment, Nitrovolt added.

Founded in 2023 by CEO Suzanne Zamany Andersen and CTO Mattia Saccoccio, Denmark-based NitroVolt aims to solve these challenges with its Nitrolyzer system, which will produce “green ammonia” at the point-of-use – the farm.

NitroVolt CEO Suzanne Zamany Andersen said:

“My ambition in life is to make a measurable and lasting positive impact, which is exactly why we started NitroVolt. The climate crisis demands action today, and by providing small modular units, we can do a fast implementation of a green solution. What gets me excited to go to work every day is the knowledge that NitroVolt has the possibility of enabling both environmental impact by abating significant CO2 emissions and societal impact by providing nitrogen-fertilizer to the most exposed and at-risk regions, thereby alleviating global hunger.”

The company has developed a system that combines air, water, and renewable electricity in an electrocatalytic ammonia synthesis process. NitroVolt said that its solution totally removes fossil fuels from the production process, making its ammonia 100% renewable, carbon-free, and competitive with current ammonia prices. The company added that its technology has proven viable in the lab, and that the funds raised in the current round will be used to build the first on-site container-sized demonstration unit.

Participants in the financing round included BackingMinds, a Swedish early-stage venture capital firm, EIFO, the sovereign wealth fund of Denmark, and climate tech and early-stage investors EQT Foundation, Satgana, and DivisionM. The Breakthrough Energy Fellowship has provided a grant in 2023 and is now following that with an equity investment in the current round as well.

Lasse Truels Köhler, Investment Manager at Green Investments at EIFO, said:

“The invention of industrial ammonia production has been vital in sustaining the world’s growing population throughout the last century. Unfortunately, current production methods take a huge toll on the climate and in EIFO we are excited to support Nitrovolt on their journey to bring ammonia production into the green era where it is needed the most – on farms all around the world.”