Monolith advances funding position from investor consortium

Lincoln, Nebraska – Pyrolysis and clean hydrogen pioneer Monolith Materials Inc. has recently announced a 'closed funding round' with a group of its existing investors*.

This, it said, is the latest round following a capital raise in July 2022 and conditional approval for a loan from the 'department of energy loan programs office' to expand its production facilities in Nebraska.

Monolith uses clean energy to power a commercial-scale proprietary plasma pyrolysis process that electrifies carbon black and hydrogen production.

“It is an exciting time for Monolith,” said co-founder and CEO Rob Hanson, noting “the work we are doing to scale the business [is] supported by world-class investors.”

Carbon black produced from Monolith’s low-emission process at its existing facility (OC1) is used by tire manufacturers across North America.

Meanwwhile, hydrogen to be produced at Monolith’s expansion facility (OC2) will be converted to ammonia to be supplied as fertiliser to US farmers.

“This funding continues our decade-long partnership with Monolith as the company builds a high energy, low emissions future,” said Roy Ben-Dor, MDi and head of energy transition & sustainability, Warburg Pincus.

Since our initial investment in 2022, “we’ve seen strong demand from top brands in Monolith’s end markets and we look forward to continuing that momentum with our latest investment,” added Jonathan Garfinkel, a managing partner of TPG Rise Climate.

In July 2022, Monolith announced that it had secured investment founding worth around $300 million to support R&D and expansion projects. (ERJ report)

The company’s operates a commercial-scale production facility in Hallam – mainly producing carbon black for the tire industry – with a second US facility expected to be completed in 2026.

Under its previously reported expansion programme, Monolith has targeted reaching a carbon black production capacity of 120-160 kilotonnes per annum.

*Investors include Azimuth V Energy Evolution Fund and Azimuth Capital Management’s Development Company Platform, Cornell Capital, Decarbonization Partners, TPG Rise Climate, and Warburg Pincus.