Dive Brief:
- Clean iron startup Electra announced Tuesday it has secured $30 million in new capital through a venture debt facility provided by JPMorgan.
- The new funding will help Electra accelerate progress toward its first commercial facility and grow its overall business, according to a March 10 release. The company aims to reach commercial scale by the end of 2030.
- “This funding gets us one step closer to bringing Electra’s clean iron to market,” Electra’s Chief Financial Officer James Rutland said in the release. “JPMorgan’s financing demonstrates confidence in our business, technology and growth prospects. As a team, we’re strongly positioned to scale and meet the growing demand for Electra’s clean iron.”
Dive Insight:
JPMorgan’s financing comes after Electra completed a series of successful funding rounds and secured investments last year. In October, Electra secured a $50 million grant from the Bill Gates-backed Breakthrough Energy Ventures. Prior to this, Electra received an $8 million Colorado clean industry tax credit in May and closed a $186 million funding round in April, led by sustainable investment firm Capricorn Investment Group and Singapore-based investment firm Temasek.
The green ironmaker also unveiled a 130,000 square foot demonstration facility in Jefferson County, Colorado, in October that it said would be supported by the Breakthrough Energy Ventures grant. The facility is expected to be operational later this year and will be able to produce up to 500 tons of low-carbon iron using the company’s technology annually.
At the same time, Electra announced it had secured advance purchase agreements for its iron product from U.S. steelmaker Nucor and steel trader Toyota Tsusho and signed its first environmental attribute credit agreement with Meta.
The startup, founded in 2020, uses a low-temperature process that dissolves iron ore in an acidic solution before running electricity through the solution, according to the company’s website. The low-temperature method allows its technology to be compatible with intermittent renewable energy resources, like wind and solar, and used in electric arc furnaces.
JPMorgan Commercial Banking Head of Climate Tech Robert Keepers said in the release that Electra’s clean iron technology is well positioned for commercialization, and the bank looks forward to “working with Electra as they continue to scale their business and help accelerate the adoption of clean materials.”
