Sydney-based startup PlasmaLeap Technologies has raised US$20 million (A$30 million) in a Series A funding round. The company aims to reduce carbon emissions in fertiliser and fuel production.
The funding round, which closed in January, was co-led by the Gates Foundation, Investible, and Yara Growth Ventures. Other investors included Twynam, GrainCorp Ventures, Uniseed/UniSuper, Artesian, SVG Ventures, and Ravensdown’s Agnition Ventures.
The company will use the money to build its first fertiliser hubs in New South Wales and Tasmania. It also plans to expand field trials and improve its main technology.
PlasmaLeap wants to use its technology not only for fertilisers but also to support cleaner fuels and sustainable energy systems in the future.
“The backing of these strategic and institutional investors is strong validation of both the PlasmaLeap technology and the scale of the opportunity,” said Frere Byrne, CEO & Co-founder of PlasmaLeap. “This funding allows us to move from successful trials into real-world deployment, demonstrating how clean, decentralised fertiliser and chemical production can transform agriculture, reduce emissions and guarantee sovereign security of critical resources like food and fuel.”
“PlasmaLeap has developed a breakthrough platform for fertiliser with lower CO2 emissions, delivering step-change improvements in energy efficiency. We see strong potential for this technology to scale competitively and reduce the climate impact of farming,” said Stian Nygaard, Investment Director at Yara Growth Ventures.
“PlasmaLeap is unlike anything we’ve seen in the green ammonia space and their technology is defining a new category in distributed sustainable fertiliser production. We first met the team through Greenhouse Tech Hub. As our tenth investment in a Greenhouse member, it reinforces our model of pairing early access and capital with a purpose-built innovation ecosystem,” said Ben Lindsay, Investment Principal at Investible.
PlasmaLeap was founded in 2019 and started as a spin-off from the University of Sydney. The company is building zero-emission chemical reactors to produce green fuels and environmentally friendly chemicals.
PlasmaLeap’s technology allows farmers to make sustainable nitrogen fertiliser directly on their farms or at nearby local hubs. This helps reduce carbon emissions, lower farming costs, and decrease dependence on long supply chains.
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