Successful start of the next financing round for the Clean Mobility Startup KEYOU. Only recently, the Munich-based company with its experienced team, which specializes in the development of emission-free hydrogen engines, was able to win another financially strong investor with ES KAPITAL from Esslingen am Neckar – even before the Federal Government launched its new hydrogen Strategy presented. A pioneering step for KEYOU, especially since Germany should play a pioneering role in hydrogen worldwide.
The capital investment company of Kreissparkasse Esslingen-Nürtingen mbH, or ES KAPITAL for short, becomes a new shareholder and partner at KEYOU and opens the current round of capitalization. “The aim of ES KAPITAL is to support medium-sized companies and promising startups and to provide a cross-sector network in addition to the capital required,” explains Ralf Sonnenwald, managing director and authorized representative of ES KAPITAL. “We see enormous potential in technology and are convinced that KEYOU will play an important role in global mobility in the near future,” continued Sonnenwald. Both parties agreed not to disclose the amount of the investment.
The fresh capital – the Munich-based company wants to close the entire round with a “decent” double-digit million amount – will primarily flow into the further development of hydrogen-specific components, the construction of the first prototype vehicles, and the expansion of the company.
“We are very happy to have won another partner from the ‘Automobilland’ Baden-Württemberg with ES KAPITAL – in addition to our anchor investor, Nagel Holding GmbH from Nürtingen. Talks with other investors are ongoing, and the topic of hydrogen is high on the agenda of many investors. The current financing round will be completed on schedule in Q4 2020 and will help us achieve our ambitious development and corporate goals, ”said Thomas Korn, CEO and co-founder of KEYOU. And adds: “There is an enormous demand from manufacturers for hydrogen engines, and we want to take advantage of that. We even receive numerous inquiries from the rail and maritime sectors. ”
KEYOU is already considered a recognized technology leader for innovative hydrogen technologies, combustion processes and hydrogen-specific components (including injector, turbocharger, control unit, etc.). Customers are engine and vehicle manufacturers for whom the Munich startup develops emission-free hydrogen engines with “KEYOU-inside” components based on conventional diesel or gas engines. Various customer projects are currently working on top-class engines – especially for the commercial vehicle sector. Seven-digit sales are already generated with each project. Now the next step is to put the successful prototype technology on the road. The big advantage for the manufacturers: vehicles with “KEYOU-inside” technology are considered “zero emission” vehicles according to EU standards, ie
The KEYOU approach is a technology that has received multiple awards, most recently the SET100 Award. This award is given annually to the 100 most forward-looking and innovative start-ups worldwide who can “revolutionize the world” with their technologies, solutions and ideas – read in the official jury statement of the SET100 initiative (an initiative of the World Energy Council, among others) , German Energy Agency, Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy).
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