Strohm, the world’s first and leading producer of Thermoplastic Composite Pipe (TCP), has completed the largest funding round in the company’s 15-year history by securing a €15million investment, setting the firm on a rapid global growth trajectory in the low carbon energy sector.
The €15million investment includes a €10million commitment made today, 15th December 2022, by ING Corporate Investments (a 100% subsidiary of ING Bank N.V.), the Netherlands’ largest financial institution, as well as a further €5million co-investment from existing shareholders Shell Ventures, Chevron Technology Ventures, Evonik Venture Capital and HydrogenOne Capital Growth Plc (HydrogenOne).
In August 2022, an initial €14million was raised with HydrogenOne investing €10million, with the remainder from Strohm’s other main shareholders. Within the total round, HydrogenOne invested a total of €11.25million.
This funding round enabled Strohm to accelerate the expansion of its manufacturing operations enhancing capacity to deliver its unique TCP solutions to offshore green hydrogen and carbon capture and utilisation and storage (CCUS) markets, while continuing to support its current clients towards their net-zero goals.
TCP is a flexible, corrosion-resistant pipe technology which does not fatigue or suffer from issues associated with using steel pipe for hydrogen, such as embrittlement.
Strohm CEO Martin van Onna, said: “This significant investment from ING Corporate Investments and our existing shareholders is a huge vote of confidence in what we have achieved to date and the wide acceptance of our ground-breaking TCP technology and its applications across multiple energy markets.
“With the largest orderbook in our history and rapid increased sales globally, Strohm is embarking on an accelerated growth path; the €29million commitment will enable us to ramp up operations globally, and implement operational excellence as required for a fast-growing organization. Our aim is to reduce the carbon emission intensity of pipelines around the world and increase our support to the growing hydrogen sector. TCP is an innovative, game-changing technology that is agnostic to all fluids and gases including hydrogen, ammonia and CO2. TCP is lightweight and delivered in long lengths on reels, allowing it to be installed by small vessels, reducing cost and carbon footprint. Through these benefits we have built the world’s largest track record of TCP pipe in operation under harsh conditions”
Corstiaan Withagen, Managing Director of ING Corporate Investments, said: “Strohm is clearly the undisputable market leader in TCP, a market with huge potential specifically in the renewable energy market. With the company’s breakthrough technology, superior product and proven track record, Strohm has created a sustainable and durable competitive advantage paving the way for an accelerated growth path. We are excited to be part of Strohm’s journey and are looking forward to work closely with Strohm’s management team and shareholders.”
Strohm employs 170 personnel at its facilities in Ijmuiden, Houston (USA), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), and Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and is growing rapidly to meet the strong customer demand.
Last month (November), the firm was awarded a contract by ECOnnect to provide more than 11km of TCP for large scale green hydrogen developer, Tree Energy Services (TES) at its Wilhelmshaven Green Gas Terminal in Germany. Strohm will provide six 8-inch flowlines with a length of approximately two kilometers each, qualified for transfer of natural gas and prepared for CO2.