German startup Reverion has successfully raised $62 million to expand its mini power plant, designed to generate clean energy, capture CO2, and produce hydrogen, all within a compact, shipping container-sized unit.
Christoph Baumeister, a principal at Possible Ventures—one of the investors—explained that Reverion’s technology efficiently allows for energy storage, enabling the plants to feed power back into the grid during peak demand.
Founded in 2022 as a spin-off from the Technical University of Munich, Reverion plans to utilize the new funds to initiate serial production of its power plants, aiming to fulfill over $100 million in pre-orders.
Reverion’s innovative approach includes using biogas, primarily composed of methane, generated from decomposing organic waste. In the previous year, biogas and other bioenergy sources accounted for around 7% of the European Union’s electricity consumption.
Unlike conventional systems, Reverion’s technology employs specially designed solid oxide fuel cells that achieve an impressive efficiency of 80%, significantly higher than traditional gas engines. The startup’s name reflects its unique capability to operate in a “reversible” manner—generating electricity when demand is high and producing methane and hydrogen when there is excess renewable energy available.
Moreover, the plant captures CO2 emitted during the electrochemical processes, providing opportunities to sell it for products like sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) or store it underground permanently. Reverion asserts that this positions its technology as CO2 negative.
While some skeptics question the carbon-cutting claims of various bioenergy and carbon capture initiatives, Reverion stands out as one of the few technologies capable of simultaneously generating energy while capturing carbon. By employing fuel cells instead of combustion, its solution presents a promising avenue for clean energy derived from biomass.
The company’s devices, a 100 kW unit fitting into a standard 20-foot container and a 500 kW version in a 40-foot container, are designed to enhance profitability for farmers and industries producing bioenergy. The captured CO2 adds an additional potential revenue stream.
Dr. Stephan Herrmann, CEO and managing director at Reverion, remarked on the overwhelming demand for their units in Germany, indicating plans for a global expansion tailored to the regulatory frameworks of different regions.
The Series A funding round was oversubscribed, led by US investor Energy Impact Partners, with participation from Honda and the European Innovation Council. Other notable investors included Munich-based Possible Ventures, climate tech VC Extantia Capital, UVC Partners, Green Generation Fund, and Doral EnergyTech Ventures.
“In this financing round, we’ve partnered with investors who bring both capital and essential expertise in scaling hardware startups and advancing innovative energy technologies,” said Herrmann, expressing enthusiasm about the collaboration with top-tier investors from the US and Japan as they move forward.
