Breaking
~95% system efficiency demonstrated (41.5 kWh/kg) US$111M Series B - largest clean-tech round in Australian history Backers include bp Ventures, Templewater, POSCO, BlueScope, Vestas Reported ~9.4 GW order pipeline & first megawatt-scale order Built in Port Kembla, the home of Australian steel Efficiency published in Nature Communications
Company Profile / Clean Energy / Green Hydrogen

Hysata

The electrolyser that skips the bubbles - and rewrites the cost of green hydrogen.

An Australian manufacturer commercialising a capillary-fed electrolyser born in a University of Wollongong lab, now scaling toward gigawatt-scale production of the world's cheapest green hydrogen.

2021
Founded
~120
Employees
~95%
Efficiency
US$111M
Series B
Hysata company logo
HYSATA, WOLLONGONG NSW. The company's wordmark, set against the navy that runs through its brand. From a single lab bench in the Illawarra to a factory floor at Port Kembla - the machine is a box that splits water; the story is the 20% of the electricity bill it refuses to waste.
What Hysata Does

A better way to split water

Electrolysis is a 200-year-old idea. Hysata's contribution is subtraction, not addition.

Hysata makes electrolysers - the machines that use renewable electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Its core innovation is a "capillary-fed" cell, which uses capillary action, the same physics that draws water up a paper towel, to feed liquid to the electrodes. That design eliminates the gas bubbles that cling to conventional electrodes and add electrical resistance.

Remove the bubbles and the cell wastes far less energy. Hysata has demonstrated around 95% system efficiency (roughly 41.5 kWh per kilogram of hydrogen), compared with about 75% for conventional commercial electrolysers. Because electricity is the single largest cost of making green hydrogen, that efficiency gain flows straight to the price at the meter.

The technology was invented by University of Wollongong scientist Gerry Swiegers and published in the journal Nature Communications before being spun out. Hysata pairs that efficiency with a deliberately simplified "balance of plant" - fewer surrounding parts - so the system is cheaper to build and easier to mass-manufacture.

System Efficiency
Conventional
~75%
IRENA 2050 target
~87%
Hysata
~95%
Approximate figures. Hysata reports exceeding IRENA's 2050 efficiency targets years ahead of schedule. Cell energy efficiency measured at up to 98%.
The Problem It Solves

Green hydrogen has a cost problem, not a science problem

Making hydrogen from water is easy. Making it cheap enough to replace fossil fuels is the hard part.

The obstacle

  • Electricity is the biggest cost of green hydrogen - inefficiency is expensive at scale
  • Conventional electrolysers lose roughly a quarter of their energy to resistance and bubbles
  • Complex balance-of-plant drives up capital and construction cost
  • Hard-to-abate sectors - steel, chemicals, heavy transport - need volumes fossil-parity can't yet reach

Hysata's answer

  • Capillary-fed cell removes bubbles, lifting efficiency toward 95%
  • Every efficiency point cuts the lifetime electricity bill of the plant
  • Simplified design means fewer parts, lower capex, easier install
  • Modular units built for mass manufacturing and on-site industrial hydrogen
Hysata's electrolyser delivers a step-change improvement over existing designs, targeting the lowest-cost green hydrogen.
- The company's stated positioning
Products & Services

What Hysata builds

Hardware, sold to industry - not software, not a service subscription.

SINCE 2021

Capillary-fed electrolyser

A modular alkaline electrolyser that feeds water to the electrodes by capillary action, eliminating resistance-inducing bubbles. Demonstrated ~95% system efficiency with a drastically simplified balance of plant, designed from the outset for high-volume manufacturing.

2025

5 MW system

A next-generation megawatt-scale system being built and tested at the Port Kembla facility, with a field pilot planned at Stanwell - the stepping stone from lab demonstration toward gigawatt-scale rollout.

ROADMAP

Gigawatt-scale manufacturing

The end goal: turn-key electrolyser systems produced at multi-gigawatt volumes so industrial customers can make green hydrogen on-site at a cost competitive with fossil fuels.

Customers & Business Model

Who buys it, and how Hysata makes money

Hysata is a B2B hardware manufacturer. It designs and mass-produces electrolysers and sells them to industrial customers who generate green hydrogen on-site to decarbonise their operations. Its buyers sit in hard-to-abate sectors - steelmaking, chemicals and fertiliser, and heavy transport - where electrifying directly is difficult and hydrogen is the practical route to lower emissions.

Rather than name every buyer, the company points to a large forward book: reported conditional orders and letters of intent totalling roughly 9.4 GW of capacity, a pipeline valued in press coverage at around US$5 billion, and a first binding megawatt-scale order with a customer that has secured hydrogen offtake. Revenue comes from equipment sales, supported by grants (including from ARENA) and strategic joint-development agreements.

Serves
Hard-to-abate industry
Steel · Chemicals & fertiliser · Heavy transport · Energy & utilities
Pipeline
~9.4 GW
conditional orders & letters of intent
Reported pipeline value ~US$5B; first binding MW-scale order booked.
How It's Different

Where Hysata stands apart

The electrolyser market is crowded. Hysata competes on a single, measurable axis: efficiency.

Most electrolyser makers - across alkaline, PEM and emerging technologies - improve incrementally on established designs. Hysata's differentiator is architectural: by using capillary action to banish bubbles, it attacks the fundamental source of inefficiency rather than optimising around it. The payoff is a headline number, ~95% system efficiency, that translates directly into a lower lifetime electricity bill for the plant owner.

The second differentiator is simplicity. A leaner balance of plant means fewer components, lower capital cost and a system engineered for mass manufacturing from day one - the difference between a clever lab result and something a steelmaker can install at scale.

The alternatives

Buyers weighing Hysata typically compare it with established and emerging electrolyser suppliers:

Nel Plug Power thyssenkrupp nucera Cummins / Accelera ITM Power Sunfire Electric Hydrogen John Cockerill
Funding & Backers

The money behind the machine

Rivals in energy and steel, aligned on one Australian startup.

Seed
Undisclosed
2021
Led by IP Group Australia
Series A
A$42.5M
2022 · oversubscribed
Vestas Ventures, Kiko Ventures / IP Group, BlueScope, Hostplus, Virescent Ventures (CEFC)
Series B
US$111M
May 2024
Co-led by bp Ventures & Templewater. New: POSCO, Shinhan Bank, IMM, Oman Investment Authority, Twin Towers Ventures, TelstraSuper.

The US$111M Series B was reported as the largest clean-tech Series B in Australian history. Third-party estimates put annual revenue at roughly US$27M; Hysata has not published a valuation.

Timeline

From lab bench to factory floor

Five years, one number worth chasing: 41.5 kWh per kilogram.

2021

Hysata launches

Founded to commercialise University of Wollongong capillary-fed electrolysis research, with a target of sub-$2/kg green hydrogen.

2022

Efficiency record published

Capillary-fed cell demonstrated at up to 98% cell efficiency in Nature Communications; closed an oversubscribed A$42.5M Series A.

2023

Recognition & scale-up

Named Startup of the Year at the Startup Daily Best in Tech Awards as the company grew its team and technology.

2024

Record Series B

Raised US$111M co-led by bp Ventures and Templewater, and signed Joint Development Agreements with POSCO Holdings and POSCO E&C.

2025

Megawatt-scale systems

Building and testing a 5 MW system at Port Kembla with a field pilot planned at Stanwell, moving toward gigawatt-scale manufacturing.

People & Expertise

The founders

A venture capitalist, an electrochemist, and a renewables operator walk into a Wollongong lab.

CO-FOUNDER & CEO

Paul Barrett

Dublin-born, with a PhD in chemical engineering from University College Dublin. As a partner at IP Group Australia he was introduced to the technology at the University of Wollongong in 2019, led the seed round, and stepped in to run the company he helped fund.

CO-FOUNDER & CTO

Gerry Swiegers

The electrochemist behind the capillary-fed cell. His University of Wollongong research - published in Nature Communications - is the scientific foundation the whole company is built on.

CO-FOUNDER

Tom Campey

Renewables and partnerships expert who helped translate a lab breakthrough into a commercial venture with industrial and strategic backing.

Partnerships

Who Hysata works with

POSCO Holdings & POSCO E&C

Joint Development Agreements to co-develop materials and systems for high-efficiency electrolysers and accelerate commercialisation, building on POSCO's Series B investment.

bp Ventures & Templewater

Co-leads of the record US$111M Series B - an energy major and a Hong Kong investment firm placing strategic bets on efficient electrolysis.

BlueScope & Vestas Ventures

Australia's largest steelmaker and the investment arm of wind-turbine giant Vestas - strategic investors tied to green steel and renewables.

ARENA & Stanwell

Australian Renewable Energy Agency grant support, and a planned field pilot with energy company Stanwell in Queensland.

Watch & Listen

See the technology and hear the founders

▶ Hysata on YouTube - product & explainers ▶ Paul Barrett - InnovationAus podcast
FAQ

Questions people ask

What does Hysata make?

High-efficiency capillary-fed electrolysers - machines that split water into green hydrogen and oxygen using renewable electricity.

Why is Hysata's electrolyser more efficient?

It uses capillary action to feed water to the electrodes, eliminating gas bubbles that add electrical resistance, reaching around 95% system efficiency versus roughly 75% for conventional electrolysers.

Where is Hysata based?

In the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia, with manufacturing at Port Kembla near Wollongong.

Who backs Hysata?

Investors include bp Ventures, Templewater, POSCO, BlueScope, Vestas Ventures, IP Group, Kiko Ventures, CEFC's Virescent Ventures, Hostplus and the Oman Investment Authority, among others.

Who are Hysata's customers?

Industrial users in hard-to-abate sectors - steel, chemicals, fertiliser and heavy transport - that produce green hydrogen on-site to cut emissions.

Connect & Share

Explore Hysata

Official

Website - hysata.com Our Company Series B announcement

Social

LinkedIn X / Twitter Instagram YouTube

In the news

New Atlas - mass production Forbes Australia - cover story Hydrogen Insight