Vertus Energy secures £8.75 million of seed capital to implement the European Renewable Energy Agenda

Financing led by the outstanding global investor Energy Capital Ventures^®which will be joined by Blackbird, Amadeus APEX Technology Fund and Aussie Angels, along with all existing investors, will be used to scale the company’s flagship product, BRIO, into pilot projects.

BRIO – the product of extensive research and development – ​​is a revolutionary biogas technology that:

• It produces biomethane up to 3 times faster than currently possible
• Increases energy production by up to 60% from the same amount of waste
• It is flexible and has the potential to serve the entire industry, at any scale
• Possibility of easy modernization of existing anaerobic digestion installations
• It is highly adaptable to a variety of systems – it controls existing bacteria rather than introducing new ones, allowing any waste stream to be used.

The new funding will be used to accelerate the deployment of BRIO technology in commercial entities with applications ranging from full-scale wastewater treatment plants to large-scale biogas plants, which are integral elements of the renewable energy ecosystem.

The global biogas market is expected to grow at a rate of approximately 5.2% annually from 2020 to 2030, reaching $86.7 billion by 2030. Europe is expected to be a major player in this field as it has set biomethane production targets of 35 billion cubic meters (bcm/year) by 2030.

Vertus Energy is an industrial Waste-to-X biotechnology startup specializing in advanced control of bacterial behavior. Encouraged by the region’s ambitious biomethane production program, the company has taken the strategic step of establishing a regional headquarters in Vienna, Austria to expand its footprint across Europe and the UK, where existing AD plant infrastructure has increased by 30%, reaching a total of 1,322 biomethane plants to April 2023

Leading its UK operations, co-founder and COO Benjamin Howard will focus on delivering Vertus Energy projects across Europe and implementing its global commercialization strategy.

“Vertus Energy is committed to dramatically improving access to sustainable energy and helping Europe achieve its renewable energy goals,” he says. “Thanks to the support of our proprietary BRIO technology by world-class investors, we are able to achieve several key goals.

“We have already established relationships with global players who see how technology can help them achieve their renewable energy goals and are really excited about what we can deliver. This is an incredible time for us as we work with companies to achieve enormous shared benefits, impacting global energy equity, sustainability and resilience. BRIO is the first of many innovations we are working on; but our goal remains the same. “Ensuring energy justice for all.”

Vic Pascucci, General Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Energy Capital Ventures, comments: “As the only venture capital fund dedicated exclusively to Green Molecules™, we have spent the last few years analyzing technologies and start-ups in the biogas, biomethanation and renewable gas industries. It was clear from our exhaustive due diligence that Vertus Energy’s technology, commercial advancements and team are far superior to anything available on the market. We backed Vertus Energy because it has a fantastic team, clearly demonstrable technology and verifiable results that significantly outperform competitive options.”

For Wolfgang Neubert, general partner at the Amadeus APEX technology fund, it was scientific data that made him invest. He comments: “We were impressed by Vertus’ commitment to cutting-edge technology innovation and its solid science-based foundation. This fits perfectly with our focus on supporting companies that are not only driven by innovation, but also committed to sustainable development. From a long-term perspective, we are excited about BRIO’s potential to continue to grow in the biogas market and look forward to exploring these broader opportunities, with Vertus positioned at the forefront of sustainable energy efforts.”

Photo caption: (left to right) Santiago de Los Reyes Chief Commercial Officer, Dr. Danilo Perez Chief Technology Officer, Benjamin Howard Chief Operating Officer, Freddy Gonzalez Chief Engineer