Spark e-Fuels funding news – Berlin-based Spark e-Fuels Secures €2.3 Million in Pre-Seed Round Funding

With the aviation industry facing increasing pressure to decarbonize, Spark is addressing one of the sector’s biggest challenges—scaling cost-effective e-fuel production to meet the surging demand for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

Now backed by a €2.3 million pre-seed round, Spark is focused on building its first e-fuel pilot plant and expanding its team to accelerate technology development and commercialization.

Renewable energy as a key pathway to producing SAFs and reducing aviation emissions is not a new concept, but attempts to utilize it in the past have struggled.

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The intermittent availability of wind and solar, which have become the fastest-growing and most cost-effective energy sources, has proven challenging for conventional e-fuel production processes. Spark’s breakthrough technology is overcoming the barrier of intermittent renewable energy with patented production processes that streamline and decouple key production steps, enabling a scalable and cost-efficient SAF solution.

Unlike conventional methods that rely on continuous electricity and hydrogen supplies, Spark’s approach seamlessly accounts for day-to-day intermittent availability as well as any seasonal changes to these inputs, significantly cutting costs while ensuring a high production output.

This innovation also reduces the need for expensive hydrogen storage or grid infrastructure, finally making e-fuels a viable alternative to fossil kerosene.

Mathias Bösl, CEO and Co-Founder of Spark e-Fuels said, “For sustainable aviation fuel to become the industry standard, production must be both scalable and cost-competitive. Our technology unlocks this potential by integrating renewable energy in a demand-responsive way,".

Beyond aviation, Spark’s technology plays a crucial role in decarbonizing the broader chemical industry. Chemical production is currently the second-largest industrial GHG emitter after steel. As chemical production transitions toward electrification, demand response will be critical to helping the sector meet the ambitious goal of reducing energy-related emissions to zero by 2050.

A $50 billion investment pipeline into SAFs is a powerful indicator of market confidence, underscoring the recognition of SAF as a commercially viable, long-term solution to meeting global emissions targets. Spark’s latest funding comes from a diverse group of investors committed to advancing climate-tech innovation.

The round was led by Nucleus Capital and accompanied by Zero Carbon Capital, IBB Ventures, Chemovator, Voyagers.io, and 1.5° Ventures. The round also included participation from business angels with deep industry experience, including former executives from Shell, Lufthansa, BP, Siemens Energy, and McKinsey, who bring invaluable expertise in energy, aviation, and industrial innovation.

Isabella Fandrych, General Partner at Nucleus Capital said, “We were drawn to Spark’s ability to integrate renewable energy into chemical production in a demand-responsive way. This approach is not only essential for SAF but has wider applications across the chemical industry, which must decarbonize rapidly,”.

In addition to this funding round, Spark e-Fuels has won grants totaling roughly €300,000. Its transformative approach was recognized further by winning the 2024 UpLink Sustainable Aviation Challenge from the World Economic Forum. This award highlights groundbreaking innovations driving decarbonization in the aviation industry, further cementing Spark’s role as a key player in the future of sustainable air travel.

About Spark e-Fuels

Spark e-Fuels is pioneering the future of sustainable aviation fuel production with its proprietary, demand-responsive, and scalable e-fuel technology. By enabling cost-effective manufacturing powered by renewable energy, Spark is accelerating the transition to net-zero aviation and driving broader industrial decarbonization.