Green hydrogen is crucial for the energy transition, but production is inefficient and expensive. AVOXT solves this with membrane-less electrolysers. NOM, Future Tech Ventures, Brabant Startup Fund and NEW-ttt see opportunities and are supporting the breakthrough with a joint investment.
'It delivers a lot for the production of green hydrogen just by leaving it out,' smiles Ton Rademaker. The CEO and co-founder of AVOXT, based in Groningen and Eindhoven, is referring to a component present in every traditional electrolyser: a membrane.
Electrolyzers split water into hydrogen and oxygen using electricity. At the heart of the system is a thin membrane that keeps the two gases separate. Because if hydrogen and oxygen touch, things can explode just like that. Only: that membrane has many disadvantages. Expensive to buy, sensitive to wear and tear and a source of malfunctions. In addition, it creates resistance, causing valuable electricity to be lost.
The result? Green hydrogen, made with power from sun and wind, costs a multiple of gray hydrogen from natural gas. Exactly that problem got Ton and Pascal van Bakel, the other founder of AVOXT, thinking. Together they developed a solution that is as simple as it is groundbreaking: an electrolyser without a membrane. 'Hydrogen and oxygen are produced in separate places in the system,' Ton explains. 'The gases can never reach each other.'
So no explosion hazard or a vulnerable component that requires a lot of maintenance, but an electrolyser that can produce green hydrogen faster and cheaper. By making green hydrogen affordable and scalable, AVOXT wants to help accelerate the energy transition. After all, green hydrogen has everything to play a major role in that transition.
It contributes to CO2 reduction, of course. But it can also be stored and transported, acting as a buffer for the electricity grid. This helps prevent grid congestion and ensures a stable energy supply, even when solar and wind supply fluctuate. With a membraneless electrolyser, green hydrogen can finally compete with gray hydrogen.
HighTechXL
Ton, originally an industrial designer, lives in Groningen and worked for more than 15 years in various management positions. First at Philips and then for ten years at Lode, a supplier of medical technology. After all this time he wanted to do something different. Through a former colleague, he ended up at HighTechXL, an Eindhoven-based venture builder that focuses on building startups that tackle major societal challenges. At the accelerator, entrepreneurs and technical talent are paired with promising technologies.
'Actually, I just wanted to take a look at HighTechXL,' Ton reflects. 'I was curious what was happening there and what was possible. Before I knew it, I was completely captivated.' At HighTechXL, he met Pascal van Bakel, a mechanical engineer with whom it clicked immediately, and the technology of the Swiss research institute CERN for delivering high power with low voltages. And yes, Ton and Pascal thought to themselves, those same electronic power supplies could perhaps be used for electrolysers.
Working prototype
A period of intensive experimentation and testing followed. Although the initial results were hopeful, it ultimately proved too complex to do on a large scale. In particular, the additional costs were much higher than what it yielded. 'But we had had a taste of the electrolyser,' Ton emphasizes. 'And more importantly, we had noticed that the membrane was really an obstacle. How can you produce green hydrogen without such a membrane? We then got to grips with that with AVOXT.'
A tough technological challenge, to be sure. Otherwise, of course, it would have been solved before now. Besides: such a membrane is there for a reason. So all sorts of experiments were carried out again. After six months it became clear that it might work. Grants and later a Rabo Innovation Loan were successfully applied for, after which a working prototype was developed.
For AVOXT, founded by Ton and Pascal in 2022, that was the moment to bring investors on board. Such a financial injection was to enable the company to further develop and scale up the technology. 'We then got in touch with the NOM, Future Tech Ventures and the Brabant Startup Fund,' says Ton. 'For all three parties we then made a pitch. Of course, we knew we had a good story. The trick is to convey that convincingly. Each investor has to find something in it that is relevant to them. We managed to do that.
Logical step
Indeed, AVOXT's story made an impression. So much so that NOM, Future Tech Ventures (FTV) and the Brabant Startup Fund decided to invest in the startup as a consortium. The investment was ratified last March. Later, NEW-ttt also joined in. 'AVOXT holds the key to radically improve the production of green hydrogen,' Kyra Weaver, investment manager of Future Tech Ventures explains the participation in the investment. 'Future Tech Ventures, the investment fund established in 2024 by a consortium of northern investment partners, focuses on high-tech and deep-tech startups for the energy transition. We deliberately look for technologies that can have economic and social impact on a global level. AVOXT's ambition to make green hydrogen affordable fits exactly into that strategy.'
It was also a logical step for NOM to co-invest. 'To take the technology to the next stage, substantial investments are needed,' says Alexander Draaijer, investment manager of NOM. 'We felt it was important to contribute to that. Not least because AVOXT is an innovative addition to the hydrogen cluster in the Northern Netherlands. In addition, we see opportunities in the employment the company can create. In the initial phase it will mainly involve technical experts, followed later by more production personnel.'
With technology that affects everyone, regional boundaries are sometimes crossed. Gerard Spanbroek, director of the Brabant Startup Fund, agrees. 'AVOXT is working from Eindhoven and Groningen on a solution with global impact,' he says. 'Then it's natural that as investors you pull together.'
Production and testing
The presence of a hydrogen cluster was indeed a prime reason for AVOXT to establish itself in Groningen as well. Not only does the region offer many companies and knowledge institutions involved with hydrogen, but also the desired infrastructure. 'We are going to make machines of considerable size,' Ton explains. 'If you want to ship those to customers worldwide, you don't need to be in Eindhoven, but near a port.'
The division of roles between the two sites is clear. In Eindhoven the research and development take place, in Groningen the production and testing of the electrolysers. But before AVOXT can actually accelerate the energy transition, some steps still need to be taken. 'Right now we have a prototype that can produce about 1 kilowatt of green hydrogen,' says Ton. 'We are working toward a demonstrator of between 100 and 200 kilowatts. But ultimately we need to move toward megawatt production.'
Those megawatts just have to come. Europe has set an ambitious goal: by 2030, 40% of all hydrogen used in the chemical industry must be green. That means there is a huge market for electrolysers that make that affordable. Ton: "If that succeeds, green hydrogen will really be the game-changer that the energy transition needs.
The importance of supra-regional cooperation
The investment in AVOXT shows how regional investors can work together to support startups that can make a difference worldwide. 'In areas where you can complement each other and are complementary, supra-regional cooperation is hugely important,' says Gerard Spanbroek of the Brabant Startup Fund. 'We know we can strengthen each other. AVOXT now benefits from two regional ecosystems, the best of both worlds.' John Bell, CEO of HighTechXL, often sees regional investors thinking too locally. 'They need to be able to see beyond their own shadow,' he stresses. 'That the NOM, Future Tech Ventures, Brabant Startup Fund and NEW-ttt have done that, I think is super. You have to make clear agreements, be transparent and just give it to each other. 'Especially when it comes to innovations that help the whole of the Netherlands or, as in the case of AVOXT, the world move forward.'