Hydrogen storage startups are pricy to run. Which have gathered the most VC dollars?

Plus: Bill Gates' VC $839M into 3rd flagship fund, and PE and VC's top-performing fund families

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Universal Hydrogen had a lofty mission. It raised nearly $100 million in venture capital from prominent deep-tech VCs like Playground Global, Toyota Ventures and JetBlue Ventures, promising to build and scale carbon-free, hydrogen-powered flights.

That dream took a nosedive this summer: After failing to secure additional capital or close a fire sale, the cleantech company went into a liquidation process.

Whether Universal Hydrogen’s collapse is an anomaly or a bellwether for what’s to come in a highly capital-intensive emerging space remains to be seen. In the past five years, a flurry of startups have emerged from stealth or spun out of university research programs with aims to scale green hydrogen.

Among them are Temasek-backed Hydrogenious, Xerys-backed Powidian and University of Cambridge spinout Immaterial.

VC reporter Rosie Bradbury has penciled out the 10 VC-backed hydrogen storage companies that have raised the most capital since their founding, according to PitchBook data.

?? SEE THE LIST

Gates' climate VC raises $839M toward 3rd flagship fund

Bill Gates-backed climate VC Breakthrough Energy Ventures has gathered $839 million in its effort to raise the firm's third flagship fund, according to a regulatory filing, making it the largest climate fund raised so far this year.

Breakthrough first launched the fund in July 2023, having closed its 2021 vintage second fund on $1 billion.

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Our ranking of top-performing fund families across PE and VC strategies

PitchBook's Global Manager Performance Score League Tables rank an asset manager's various fund families by strategy, using a proprietary methodology. The latest edition is now available to help LPs cut through the opaque process of evaluating a manager's track record.

Typical benchmarking metrics that scrutinize a fund manager's firm-level performance regardless of asset class can be too wide—and focusing on funds by IRR quartiles can be too narrow. That's where our Manager Performance Scores come in, providing an objective measure of a fund family's track record. Our league tables rank the top-performing families in 10 select strategies.

Who led the way?

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