OXCCU, an Oxford College spin-out creating a one-step course of to transform waste carbon into SAF, has raised €23.7 million in an oversubscribed Sequence B funding spherical to speed up its commercialisation efforts, increase its operations, and advance its subsequent part of expertise scale-up.
The spherical consists of new traders Orlen VC, Safran Company Ventures, Worldwide Airways Group (IAG), Hostplus, and TCVC, alongside continued assist from present backers Clear Power Ventures, IP Group/Kiko Ventures, Aramco Ventures, Eni Subsequent, Braavos Capital, and the College of Oxford.
“In a market the place capital is tight and traders are rightly selective, this elevate is a testomony to the power of our science, the readability of our mission, and the urgency of the issue we’re fixing,” mentioned Andrew Symes, CEO of OXCCU. “What we’re seeing is that critical gamers with really distinctive applied sciences are nonetheless getting funded.”
OXCCU’s Sequence B is among the bigger offers within the European clear fuels/carbon conversion area up to now in 2025, relative to the mid-single digit hundreds of thousands extra typical of earlier-stage gamers. Whereas most of the comparators stay at pre-Seed or Seed scale (e.g. the €2.3 million for Spark e-Fuels, or the €3.2 million for Crosstown), OXCCU is advancing into commercialisation and demonstration scale.
Its elevate displays investor urge for food for extra mature, de-risked applied sciences within the carbon-to-liquids/SAF area, significantly the place there’s a credible pathway to value discount and industrial deployment.
Notably, Catalyxx in Spain is working in a considerably associated area of interest (changing bioethanol into renewable chemical compounds/SAF intermediates), so there’s a comparable echo of curiosity in Southern Europe. However not one of the comparators recognized in 2025 attain fairly the identical scale or share precisely the identical one-step carbon to hydrocarbon strategy.
Jonathon Counsell, Group Sustainability Director at Worldwide Airways Group (IAG), mentioned: “We recognise the necessity for the world to attain internet zero emissions by 2050 and for the aviation sector to play its half and to develop sustainably. IAG has been a pacesetter within the sector, being the primary airline group globally to decide to internet zero by 2050. We’re additional dedicated to our purpose of assembly 10% of our gas wants with SAF by 2030. Assembly these targets will probably be supported by this funding into OXCCU which is a part of our technique of creating new partnerships to provide next-generation fuels.”
Based in 2021, OXCCU is creating novel catalysts and reactor designs to transform waste carbon into liquid hydrocarbons with excessive conversion and selectivity to be used as fuels and chemical compounds.
The brand new capital builds on the launch of the corporate’s OX1 demonstration plant at London Oxford Airport in 2024. Their second demonstration plant, OX2, is underway and will probably be totally operational in 2026.
The announcement comes at a time of rising regulatory momentum and market demand for sustainable fuels. Nonetheless, regardless of mandates such because the UK SAF mandate and ReFuelEU, the corporate says excessive manufacturing prices stay a significant barrier to widespread adoption.
Ireneusz Fąfara, President of the Administration Board of ORLEN, added: “We put money into the applied sciences of tomorrow to successfully rework our enterprise. This yr, we launched SAF – sustainable aviation gas produced from renewable and waste uncooked supplies – into our providing. According to our technique, by 2035 we purpose to change into one of many main producers of SAF in Europe.
“Supporting the achievement of this purpose is a brand new funding by ORLEN VC within the expertise of OXCCU, an organization enabling the conversion of inexperienced hydrogen and carbon dioxide into artificial aviation gas. Its commercialisation will strengthen our market competitiveness and assist our pursuit of carbon neutrality.”
The funding displays growing recognition that driving down SAF manufacturing prices is crucial to unlocking aviation decarbonisation at scale.
OXCCU’s course of simplifies SAF manufacturing pathways by eliminating the necessity for reverse water fuel shift or e-methanol steps. As a substitute, its patented iron-based catalyst permits the direct synthesis of jet-fuel-range hydrocarbons from gaseous waste carbon in a single exothermic response.
This reportedly reduces capital and working prices, and reduces the carbon depth of the gas.
The catalyst’s skill to function with a variety of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and hydrogen enter fuel compositions provides it the flexibleness to effectively convert completely different feedstocks corresponding to reformed biogas, gasified wooden waste, and pure carbon dioxide with hydrogen.
“It is a crucial time for ClimateTech, because the urgency continues to extend,” added Symes. “Aviation wants an answer, and the intense lever is SAF. The problem is SAF value and that’s precisely what we’re addressing at OXCCU.”
EU-Startups beforehand coated OXCCU’s €20.6 million funding spherical in 2023.
