H2scan Raises $13.5 Million in New CapitalEnergy Growth Momentum is lead investor, with additional committed capital from El DoradoInvestment Company; H2scan will use funds to increase production capacity and to acceleratetime to delivery to meet soaring demand for its Gen 5 ultra-small, ultra-precise sensingtechnology.VALENCIA, Calif. January 15, 2020 – H2scan, a leading provider of proven, proprietary hydrogen sensors and technologies for utilities and industrial markets, today announced it has closed $10.5 million in a series E financing round from Energy Growth Momentum, a UK-based private equity group. H2scan raised an additional $3 million in venture debt from El Dorado Investment Company, an Arizona venture company owned by Pinnacle West Capital Corporation.
Both Energy Growth Momentum and El Dorado have deep energy industry expertise.
Faster Time to Market; New Products
The funds will be used to accelerate production of the company’s revolutionary Gen 5 technology. The Gen 5 is the first of its kind small-size, low-cost ASIC-based hydrogen measuring sensor that delivers high accuracy, operates in high temperature and requires zero maintenance or calibration. The first use case for the sensor is real time, on-line monitoring of hydrogen levels in distribution transformers.
The new Gen 5 System will cost up to 80% less and is three times smaller than existing hydrogen monitoring systems, opening the door to monitoring the 13 million plus transformers under streets, in neighborhoods, industrial sites, wind and solar farms and trains; ABB and other transformer industry leaders have tested prototypes of the system, which is now in retail production.
The funds will also be used to build a proprietary automated sensor manufacturing (ASM) capability that meaningfully expands manufacturing capacity of H2scan products at the company’s production facility in Valencia.
The new automated calibration system will reduce the days needed for sensor calibration to less than a third of what is required today, which will have a significant impact on product delivery times and efficiency. Altran, a 43,000-employee engineering service company located in Burlington, MA, is the program lead for the state-of-the-art system.
“Our products contribute to either the safety or efficiency of utility power transformers, refineries and petrochemical facilities. Already, H2scan offers the greatest specification on the market along with environmental conditioning to adapt our monitoring solution to a wider range of applications,” said Dennis Reid, President, CEO and Founder of H2scan.
He continued: “This solution just improves with our Gen 5 technology, which is smaller and less costly, and has opened up new markets such as distribution transformer monitoring. This funding, besides the development of the ASM, will help us grow our market share, and add new products using the Gen 5 platform. Just as importantly, I’m looking forward to the industry expertise that Energy Growth Momentum and El Dorado will bring to the company.”
“H2scan is perfectly aligned with what we look for in an investment as the company improves the performance of energy assets and can benefit from our operational expertise as it brings its new technology to market,” said John Wilson, Partner, Energy Growth Momentum LLP. “I look forward to working with management in realizing the significant opportunity in real-time and remote hydrogen monitoring.”
“Given our electrical generation businesses, we can immediately see the value of the Gen 5 technology and what it brings to the entire H2scan product line,” said John Finn, Managing Director at El Dorado Investment Company. “The company’s technology solves some very critical problems for utilities and this market need played a significant role in our decision to invest.”
Founders Advisors advised the company in the transaction.
About Energy Growth Momentum
Energy Growth Momentum backs talented management in the energy sector with its capital, operational expertise and network – supporting entrepreneurs through the next phase of growth. Energy Growth Momentum invests $10M-$15M in equipment & digital solutions that improve the operational and carbon performance of energy assets. More information is at: https://www.egmomentum.com.
About El Dorado Investment Company
El Dorado Investment Company is a corporate venture company that invests in development stage and rapid expansion phase opportunities that complement the core electricity generating, distributing and marketing businesses of our parent company, Pinnacle West Capital Corp. (NYSE: PNW). We provide our partners both with capital to fuel their expansion and added value by sharing strategic guidance and facilitating new opportunities for growth. Our target markets are energy intelligence, generation efficiency, advanced materials, clean fuel technologies, demand-response applications, renewable energy/RES Compliance, and utility infrastructure. For more information go to: http://www.pinnaclewest.com/.
About H2scan Corporation
H2scan was founded in 2002, and has its headquarters, sales, production and marketing staff in Valencia, California. The Company provides the most accurate, tolerant and affordable hydrogen leak detection and process gas monitoring solutions for industrial markets. H2scan enables the accurate monitoring and control functions for a wide range of applications, including control systems, safety monitoring and alarm systems. H2scan also provides portable, handheld configurations for easy leak detection and monitoring. H2scan supplies its hydrogen process analyzer and hydrogen leak detectors to utility, petrochemical, refinery, and gas line companies, nuclear power plants, fuel cell, petroleum and other industrial organizations through distribution, or long-term supply agreements. H2scan helps its customers meet safety, regulatory and process control requirements while doing critical hydrogen monitoring. H2scan’s customer base includes some of the largest manufacturing enterprises in the world including ABB, Siemens, GE Energy, Qualitrol, DOD, ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, NASA, Proctor & Gamble and more. H2scan now holds 27 patents on its core technology, software and electronics and its products are sold in over 60 countries worldwide.
For more information, please visit http://www.h2scan.com.
For More Information, Contact
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