A world first

Supercritical Solutions is pioneering high pressure, ultra efficient electrolysis to deliver affordable, renewable hydrogen at industrial scale. Founded in London in 2020, the company leverages a patented membraneless and iridium free design to produce hydrogen at up to 220 bar and 99% purity. By operating at high temperature and pressure, Supercritical achieves leading efficiencies, eliminating the energy intensive mechanical compressors that typically drive up CAPEX and operational complexity.

Supercritical’s mission is to enable the global renewable hydrogen economy by addressing the most challenging 20% of global emissions, providing a commercially viable path for hard-to-abate sectors like chemicals, heavy industry, and fuels to transition from fossil-based feedstock.

Brodies started supporting Supercritical in 2021 when we advised on its seed funding round.

Full-service support on the growth journey

Since then, we have deployed our full-service and sector-focused capabilities to support Supercritical in a number of different areas, with recent highlights including advice to Supercritical on:

  • its ~£14.6 million Series A funding round led by Shell Ventures and Toyota Ventures;
  • a non-exclusive collaboration agreement with Shell Global Solutions International B.V. (as Supercritical advances its technology from advanced out-of-laboratory prototype towards a pilot demonstration in the field); and
  • its move to a brand-new, purpose-built London facility, specifically engineered to support Supercritical’s next phase of growth.

A sector-focused and international approach

Brodies’ real differentiator in supporting scaling businesses on their growth journey is the number of sectors we are active in, via our membership with sector groups – such as The Energy Law Group – and the support we provide to our large and varied client base. The know-how and experience we gain from these activities allows us to provide tailored, commercial and pragmatic advice, and become an extension of our clients’ teams to facilitate and provide solutions.

Brodies’ strong sector focus in energy, clean-tech and advanced technology was central to supporting Supercritical in concluding a complex collaboration agreement with Shell Global Solutions International B.V. Drawing on deep experience of hydrogen projects, IP-heavy collaborations and large-scale energy partnerships, Brodies were able to align the commercial objectives of a fast-growing climate-tech innovator with the governance, risk and compliance expectations of a global energy major. The team provided joined-up advice across intellectual property, patents, data, commercial and regulatory issues, helping Supercritical protect its core technology while enabling collaboration at scale.

Our profile and standing in the UK legal market also gives us great access to international work, whether that be UK clients going global or international players entering the UK market. Drawing on this, our memberships (including TerraLex, IBA and ABA) and our project management capabilities, we are ideally placed to support client businesses throughout their growth journeys as they develop, scale, globalise, and exit.

2021

began advising

£17m

equity funding

8

jurisdictions involved

Key facts and figures

We have been advising Supercritical Solutions since 2021 and have supported it on ~£17.2m of equity funding to date.

The jurisdictions involved in such equity funding include the UK, US, Netherlands, Thailand, Morocco, Japan, Singapore and Australia.

The Series A funding round was led by Shell Ventures and Toyota Ventures.

Supercritical’s cap table also contains other large strategic investors, such as Valterra, and VCs, such as Al Mada Ventures, Blackfinch Ventures and Lowercarbon Capital.

What’s next?

As Supercritical moves from advanced out-of-laboratory TRL6 demonstration the focus shifts to industrial validation at scale. The company is now entering a high-growth phase, backed by a world-class team and a strategic cap table that includes global leaders such as Shell Ventures and Toyota Ventures.

By proving that high-pressure, ultra-efficient hydrogen production is achievable without the cost and complexity of traditional systems, Supercritical is de-risking the path to deep decarbonisation. The future of the business lies in integrating this breakthrough technology into the global industrial fabric, providing a repeatable and bankable utility for the world’s most energy-intensive sectors. As the market moves from pilot projects to industrial execution, Supercritical is positioned to lead the next generation of green hydrogen technology.

As we scale our technology from the lab to industrial environments, having a legal partner that understands both the velocity of a high-growth start up and the rigorous requirements of global energy majors is essential. Brodies was instrumental in navigating our £14.6m Series A funding round, ensuring we secured the right backing from world-class investors. Furthermore, their deep sector expertise was a key factor in concluding our recent commercial collaboration agreements. They successfully balanced our need to protect core intellectual property with the complex governance and compliance standards expected by international partners. Brodies does not just provide legal advice; they act as a commercial extension of our team, helping us de-risk our path to market

Matt Bird, CEO, Supercritical Solutions Ltd

Contributors

Alison Bryce

Partner

Greg Costello

Legal Director

Contact our Start-ups and Growing Businesses team

Find out how we can help start-ups and growing businesses through every stage of their journey from incorporation to exit.

Get in touch