After the signing of the Shareholder Agreement, the EIC Fund officially becomes a shareholder of KEYOU. This brings KEYOU’s total funding from the EIC to EUR 7.3 million, including an R&D grant of EUR 1.55 million.
Some call for a strict end to the combustion engine, others see the battery coming even in the truck sector, and the hydrogen hype seems to be unbroken – new reports from the automotive industry appear in the media almost weekly. Despite all these different reports, the Munich-based high-tech company KEYOU continues to work steadily on a „green“ hydrogen engine. With its „KEYOU-inside“ technology, the start-up convinced the European Union as part of the EIC Accelerator Program.
The European Union’s EIC Accelerator funding program provides support through unique combination of grants and investment. The EIC Fund targets young and highly innovative impact and deep tech companies. KEYOU is developing an 18-ton truck powered by a hydrogen engine based on an advanced DEUTZ 7.8L engine with KEYOU-inside technology. The investment from the EIC will significantly advance the industrialization and commercialization of the KEYOU technology.
„The equity investment made by the EIC Fund, together with the R&D grant from the EIC Accelerator, is a big step for us from a financial point of view. In addition, this investment also shows that the topic of hydrogen mobility and especially the hydrogen engine has arrived at the highest political level. That means that the hydrogen engine, along with e-drives and fuel cells, is no longer just by definition one of the „zero-emission“ drive technologies but is now actively promoted by the EU. Giving our technology another important boost,“ explains Thomas Korn, CEO, and co-founder of KEYOU.
„The EIC Fund investment in KEYOU demonstrates the Fund’s and EU’s commitment to advancing breakthrough and disruptive innovation cutting edge technologies in the area of decarbonization. KEYOU is a very promising startup, redesigning conventional engines into emission-free hydrogen powered ones. This is a key technology for enabling a mass-scale transition of heavy trucks and long-distance road transport of goods to a clean and sustainable future“, said Martin Bruncko, member of the EIC Fund Investment Committee.