# Lukas Hackl

> Lukas Hackl is the co-founder and CEO of Aepnus Technology, an Emeryville, California startup building electrolyzers that turn sodium sulfate waste - a salty byproduct piling up across the EV battery supply chain - back into the sulfuric acid and caustic soda that battery makers have to buy. The technology grew out of his UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory PhD work on electrochemical water desalination. After hearing the same waste complaint on road trips from California to Canada, he and co-founder Bilen Akuzum turned a laboratory curiosity into a company that emerged from stealth in 2024 with $8 million in seed funding led by Clean Energy Ventures.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & CEO at Aepnus Technology
- **Organizations:** Aepnus Technology, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Cyclotron Road, Activate
- **Education:** Master's in Mechanical Engineering, ETH Zurich, PhD (electrochemical water desalination research), UC Berkeley / Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
- **Known for:** Co-founded and leads Aepnus Technology, raising roughly $12M in total funding (including an $8M seed round led by Clean Energy Ventures), Translated his UC Berkeley / LBNL PhD research on electrochemical desalination into a commercial electrolyzer platform, Developed a catalyst-free electrolyzer claimed to be ~30% more energy efficient with ~60% lower stack costs than PEM electrolyzers

## Career timeline

- **~2013** — Meets future co-founder Bilen Akuzum as an exchange student at UC Berkeley
- **2020** — Tours California and Nevada upstream EV battery supply chain companies; identifies the sodium sulfate waste problem
- **2023** — Co-founds Aepnus Technology with Bilen Akuzum; joins Cyclotron Road / Activate as a fellow
- **2024** — Commissions pilot electrolysis system; Aepnus emerges from stealth with $8M seed round led by Clean Energy Ventures
- **2026** — Reported $12M total funding; scaling pilots toward commercial deployment

## Achievements

- Co-founded and leads Aepnus Technology, raising roughly $12M in total funding (including an $8M seed round led by Clean Energy Ventures)
- Translated his UC Berkeley / LBNL PhD research on electrochemical desalination into a commercial electrolyzer platform
- Developed a catalyst-free electrolyzer claimed to be ~30% more energy efficient with ~60% lower stack costs than PEM electrolyzers
- Selected as a Cyclotron Road / Activate fellow at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
- Validated the platform through a CRADA collaboration with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

## Latest updates

- **2024-06** — Aepnus emerges from stealth with $8M seed financing led by Clean Energy Ventures; pilot system commissioned
- **2026-02** — Most recent reported funding activity; total funding reported around $12M

## Links

- Website: https://aepnus.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/lukashackl

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/lukas-hackl
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-22