AZUL Energy raises Series A extension to scale rare-metal-free battery tech
What's the deal? AZUL EnergyDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a Sendai-based deep-tech startup, has raised a Series A extension round via a third-party share allotment. Investors include Spiral CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → (through Spiral Capital Japan Fund 2), Nippo Sangyo, Pegasus Tech Ventures, and Fidea CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
What's the endgame? The company's core technology is the "AZUL catalyst," a high-performance, rare-metal-free catalyst for next-generation energy devices such as air batteries, fuel cells, water electrolysis, and CO2 electrolysis. Proceeds will fund research, development, and commercialisation of its air-battery technology.
Specifically, AZUL will develop gas diffusion electrodes for air batteries (AZUL-GDE), improve cell performance, and build out capacity for demonstration testing and mass production. Air batteries use oxygen from the air in electrode reactions, offering high theoretical energy density with light weight and long run times.
Why now? Air batteries are drawing attention in long-duration energy storage (LDES) and disaster-response and backup power. Alongside the round, AZUL signed a capital and business alliance with Nippo Sangyo to jointly develop air-battery-related technology.
Chief executive officer Koju Ito tied the raise to surging global power demand. "As power demand rises sharply worldwide, driven by AI and data centres, expectations for low-cost, safe storage technology with fewer resource constraints are growing," he said.
Investor notability: The round pulls together a notable mix of backers. Pegasus Tech Ventures — a corporate venture fund co-run by Japanet Holdings and US-based Pegasus Tech Ventures — flagged the company's global potential.
"We are very pleased to invest in AZUL Energy, which is developing innovative catalyst technology that does not require rare metals," said founder and chief executive officer Anis Uzzaman, pointing to the startup's advance to the 2025 Startup World Cup global final as evidence of its potential.
Spiral Capital principal Satoshi Naoi said AZUL has hit technical milestones since its previous Series A and evolved into "a company that can deploy a business model beyond pure materials supply."
The signal: Japan's deep-tech investors — including regional bank-backed funds such as Fidea Capital — are betting on catalyst chemistry that sidesteps rare-metal dependence. As grid-scale storage and resilience move up the agenda, rare-metal-free air batteries are positioned as a candidate for the next wave of energy infrastructure.
Read more: PR TIMES
Image credit: AZUL Energy
