Tulum Energy is a technology company.
Tulum Energy has raised $27.0M across 1 funding round.
Tulum Energy has raised $27.0M in total across 1 funding round.
Tulum Energy is a climate-tech startup developing methane pyrolysis technology to produce "turquoise hydrogen" from natural gas, converting methane into hydrogen and solid carbon without CO2 emissions.[1][2][4] It serves heavy industries like refineries, chemicals, and steel production that require large-scale hydrogen, solving the problem of high-emission traditional methods (e.g., steam methane reforming) by offering a cleaner, cost-competitive alternative using repurposed equipment.[1][3][4] With just 3 employees, the company raised an oversubscribed $27 million seed round in 2025 led by CDP Venture Capital and TDK Ventures, enabling a pilot plant in Mexico.[2][3][5]
This positions Tulum as a scalable solution for decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors, targeting $1.50 per kg of hydrogen at full scale—only 50 cents above fossil-based methods—while monetizing carbon byproducts for tires, batteries, and construction.[2][5]
Tulum Energy emerged from a forgotten 2000s experiment within the Techint Group, where an electric arc furnace accidentally produced hydrogen via methane pyrolysis, but the discovery was shelved as hydrogen demand was low.[2] In 2022, TechEnergy Ventures (Tecpetrol's CVC arm) and Tenova (a Techint industrial tech provider) revived it through a strategic alliance, spinning out the startup with IP, a team, and seed capital.[3][5]
Massimiliano Pieri serves as CEO, leveraging the Techint ecosystem for rapid development.[2][3] Pivotal traction came with the 2025 $27M seed round from TDK Ventures, CDP Venture Capital, Doral Energy-Tech Ventures, MITO Tech Ventures, and TechEnergy, funding a pilot at Ternium's (Techint steel) Mexico site.[2][3][5]
Tulum rides the turquoise hydrogen trend, bridging gray hydrogen's low cost/emissions with green hydrogen's cleanliness amid surging industrial demand (projected to double).[5][6] Timing aligns with energy transition pressures: policies favor low-emission H2, but green methods remain 2-3x costlier; Tulum undercuts them using abundant natural gas.[2][5]
Market forces like cheap U.S. gas/electricity and carbon byproduct markets favor it, targeting "hard-to-abate" sectors where CCS is impractical.[1][4] It influences the ecosystem by validating pyrolysis scalability, potentially accelerating adoption via Techint's steel/chemical networks and inspiring retrofits of legacy furnaces.[3][6]
Tulum Energy's pilot in Mexico (2025-2026) will prove tech at scale, with Ternium as anchor customer for hydrogen in direct reduced iron and carbon in processes—setting up commercial plants by late 2020s.[2][3] Rising H2 mandates, carbon pricing, and pyrolysis R&D (e.g., vs. Monolith) will shape growth, potentially dropping costs below $1.50/kg with optimizations.[2][5]
Its Techint ties could evolve it into a hydrogen supplier for conglomerates, expanding "turquoise" H2's role in net-zero industry, turning a rediscovered idea into clean energy infrastructure.[2][6]
Tulum Energy has raised $27.0M in total across 1 funding round.
Tulum Energy's investors include Extantia Capital, Piva Capital, TDK Ventures.
Tulum Energy has raised $27.0M across 1 funding round. Most recently, it raised $27.0M Seed in July 2025.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 1, 2025 | $27.0M Seed | Extantia Capital, Piva Capital, TDK Ventures |