Novo Holdings invests in innovative water treatment pioneer, HPNow, as part of €14m round

Copenhagen, Denmark  – Novo Holdings A/S, a leading global life sciences investor, today announces a significant investment in HPNow, a Danish firm pioneering an innovative form of water treatment, alongside the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark (EIFO) and existing investors MatiTech, Evonik Venture Capital and AP Ventures.

Novo Holdings acted as a member of a consortium that has invested €14 million in Copenhagen-based HPNow, whose technology enables large-scale water users, such as farms and industrial sites, to produce their own supplies of dilute hydrogen peroxide to disinfect untreated water on-site. This investment follows Novo Holdings first water technology investment earlier this year into Aquafortus, which is developing novel and proprietary zero liquid discharge technology.

Marcus Remmers, Partner at Bioindustrial Investments, Novo Holdings said: “HPNow’s hydrogen peroxide generation technology solves a real problem for large-scale water consumers who currently rely on regular deliveries of highly concentrated hydrogen peroxide, which is then diluted before being added to water supplies. HPNow’s technology allows them to make their own dilute hydrogen peroxide on-site, eliminating the need for these deliveries, significantly reducing waste and carbon emissions. This is Novo Holdings second investment in water treatment technology this year, heralding our commitment to advancing this vital area.”

Hydrogen peroxide is a potent water disinfectant, which has been used for decades to prevent fouling and ensure water is free of pathogens and contaminants, such as bacteria, viruses, organic residues or odours. After use, it breaks down to become harmless water and oxygen.

HPNow’s machines, which are about the size of a large domestic freezer, make dilute hydrogen peroxide from water, air and electricity using a unique method of electrolysis which is much more carbon efficient than standard ways of making the chemical. HPNow estimates its method, generated on-site, offsets as much as three tons of CO2 equivalent per ton of hydrogen peroxide, compared to standard production techniques (reference). The Company’s technology is also economically efficient, with a typical return on investment of one to three years, depending on circumstances.

Key markets include agriculture, where hydrogen peroxide is routinely used to ensure irrigation lines are kept clean; industrial sites which need clean water, like those with cooling towers; and remote facilities which lack access to safe, clean drinking water.

Proceeds from this round of financing will primarily be used to scale up HPNow’s production capacity to address growing market demand and technical support, as well as boosting its sales and marketing efforts.

Ziv Gottesfeld, Chief Executive Officer at HPNow, said: “This new investment round, led by top-tier investors, represents a strong endorsement of our technology and market offering, and will enable us to take a major leap forward in our development. With the strong backing of new and existing partners, HPNow is ready to take sustainable on-site peroxide generation to the next level.”

Jonas Bjaaland, Investment Director at EIFO, said: “Danish Power-to-X pioneers like HPNow are leading the way to a more sustainable future. From agriculture to industry, their technology, originally developed at the Technical University of Denmark, represents a multi-billion Euro market opportunity for safe, sustainable and affordable water treatment.”

About Novo Holdings
Novo Holdings is a holding and investment company that is responsible for managing the assets and the wealth of the Novo Nordisk Foundation. The purpose of Novo Holdings is to improve people’s health and the sustainability of society and the planet by generating attractive long-term returns on the assets of the Novo Nordisk Foundation.

Wholly owned by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, Novo Holdings is the controlling shareholder of Novo Nordisk A/S and Novozymes A/S and manages an investment portfolio with a long-term return perspective. In addition to managing a broad portfolio of equities, bonds, real estate, infrastructure and private equity assets, Novo Holdings is a world-leading life sciences investor. Through its Seeds, Venture, Growth, and Principal Investments teams, Novo Holdings invests in life science companies at all stages of development. As of year-end 2022, Novo Holdings had total assets of EUR 108 billion. Read more at www.novoholdings.dk

About EIFO
The Export and Investment Fund of Denmark (EIFO) is the national promotional bank and export credit agency of Denmark combined in one new financial institution. EIFO provides a single point of access for Danish companies as well as for their foreign and domestic business partners who need risk-tolerant government capital. EIFOs main objective is to support Danish companies which can green the globe. www.eifo.dk

About HPNow
HPNow addresses growing global challenges in clean water and sanitation through its range of on-site, autonomous, safe, and sustainable ultra-pure hydrogen peroxide generation solutions. HPNow was spun out of the Danish Technical University (DTU) in 2015, and is now headquartered in Copenhagen, with sales representation across Europe, the Americas and Asia. HPNow’s solutions address water treatment professionals’ needs in market segments ranging from agriculture to industrial and drinking water treatment. HPNow is a technology and market leader in onsite generation of hydrogen peroxide and is continuously striving to further advance its technology and products in order to meet growing market needs and rising global demand. www.hpnow.eu