HSL Technologies

France-based HSL Technologies (HSL; formerly HySiLabs) develops patented liquid hydrogen carriers for hydrogen transportation. Its technology loads hydrogen into “HydroSil,” a liquid silicon hydride derivative, and releases it on demand. The company claims that a truck of HydroSil can transport 7x more hydrogen than compressed gas due to its high density. It also allows liquid hydrogen to be stored in conventional trucks and pipelines for weeks or months, compared to a few days when stored in its gaseous form. The company’s planned business model includes licenses and royalties, targeting key players in the energy industry.

In November 2019, the company signed a contract with Shell GameChanger (a program for startups and businesses with novel ideas impacting the energy sector), which connected HSL with industry experts from Shell for technology and funding support. Previously, in 2017, the company joined the Shell LiveWIRE network (a business development program) for advice on strategy, technical approach, regulation, and industrialization of the product.

In July 2020, HSL Technologies announced its plans to build two industrial demonstrators near the company’s headquarters to produce HydroSil on an industrial scale and release hydrogen from this carrier.

Key customers and partnerships

HSL Technologies’ most recently announced collaboration was with Vinci Geostock to test underground hydrogen storage. In November 2021, the company partnered with Helion Hydrogen Power (a fuel cell manufacturer), Enogia (an ORC turbine manufacturer), and Ecole National Supérieure des Arts et Métiers (an engineering school) on a project called QualifHY to study the interactions between its hydrogen release device and a fuel cell. In March 2021, HSL Technologies partnered with the Port of Amsterdam, Evos, Electriq Global, and Hydrogenious to investigate the feasibility of storing hydrogen on an industrial scale. The initiative, called H2A (formerly H2Gate), includes a hub of facilities with a total throughput capacity of one million tons of hydrogen per year.

Funding and financials

In June 2023, Exolum and Vopak Ventures became shareholders in the company, joining other investors such as Equinor Ventures, EDP Ventures, and the European Innovation Council (a deeptech investment fund created by the EU to support startups).

The company’s most recent funding round was in January 2023, when it raised raised EUR 13 million (USD 14 million) in a Series A round led by Equinor Ventures, the venture capital arm of Norwegian energy producer Equinor. The funds will be used to continue its R&D program. In May 2018, HSL raised EUR 2 million (around USD 2.3 million) in a venture capital round to deploy several demonstrators, with a particular focus on hydrogen filling stations.