Industrial biotech company Vertus Energy has raised a €8.75 million Seed funding round.

Vertus Energy is a Waste-to-X industrial biotech startup specialising in advanced control of bacteria behaviour. 

Waste-to-X (WtX) refers to a set of technologies and solutions that treat waste as a resource rather than a problem. The “X” in Waste-to-X can represent a variety of outputs, such as energy, fuels, or other valuable products.

Vertus’ flagship product, BRIO, creates the platform for Vertus to control the bacteria within anaerobic digestion plants by retrofitting their modular hardware unit that can generate 60 per cent more energy from the same amount of waste; 3 times faster.  Its flexibility provides the potential to service the entire industry, at every scale. It easily retrofits into existing anaerobic digestion plants, controlling existing bacteria rather than by introducing new bacteria, enabling the potential to utilise any waste stream.

According to co-founder and COO, Benjamin Howard:

“Vertus Energy is determined to radically improve access to sustainable energy and help Europe meet its renewable energy objectives.

“We’ve already established relationships with global players, who have recognised how the technology can help them to meet their renewable energy goals and are genuinely excited by what we can deliver.

It’s an incredible time for us as we partner with companies to pursue an enormous common benefit, impacting global energy equity, sustainability and resilience. BRIO is the first of many innovations we’re working on; but our purpose remains the same. ‘Delivering Energy Justice for All’.”

Energy Capital Ventures led the round which was joined by Blackbird, the Amadeus APEX Technology Fund and Aussie Angels, alongside all their existing investors.

Vic Pascucci, Managing General Partner and co-founder of Energy Capital Ventures, comments: 

“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.”

Wolfgang Neubert, General Partner at the Amadeus APEX Technology Fund, it was the scientific data that drew them to invest. He comments: 

“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.”

The new funding will accelerate the adoption of the BRIO technology in commercial units across various applications, from full-scale wastewater treatment plants to large-scale biogas plants, which are integral components of the renewable energy ecosystem.

Lead image: Santiago de Los Reyes Chief Commercial Officer, Dr Danilo Perez, Chief Technology Officer, Benjamin Howard, Chief Operations Officer, Freddy Gonzalez, Chief Engineer