Ammobia and KC8 Capture Technologies win the 2025 New Energy Challenge
Helsinki, Finland – Ammobia and KC8 Capture Technologies have been named winners of the tenth edition of the New Energy Challenge, an annual competition that recognises start-ups and scale-ups driving innovation in the energy transition.
This year’s challenge focused on two critical themes for a net-zero future: renewable (green) hydrogen and carbon removal. Both areas are essential to decarbonising hard-to-abate sectors and achieving global climate goals.
The finals of the 2025 New Energy Challenge were held during a live pitching event at Slush, one of the world’s leading start-up and tech gatherings, which brings together founders, investors, and innovators to foster entrepreneurship and collaboration.
Selected from more than 160 global entries, the top twelve finalists presented their solutions to an expert jury of industry leaders, investors, and innovation specialists. The competition provided participants with access to expert coaching, networking opportunities, and tailored support to refine their business models and collaboration proposals.
From these twelve finalists, Ammobia and KC8 Capture Technologies emerged as winners and will now have the opportunity to collaborate with Shell to further develop and scale their solutions.
Winning innovations
Start-up winner: Ammobia
Ammobia is developing Haber Bosch 2.0 – an innovative, low-cost and flexible process for producing clean ammonia from green hydrogen and air. By harnessing the latest advances in materials science and catalysis, Ammobia’s technology enables the production of clean ammonia at low cost.
“Our goal is to produce hundreds of tons of low-cost clean ammonia within five years to help decarbonise energy, fertilisers, and mobility – and we hope to do that with Shell. The hard work starts now, and we’re excited to create impact together,” says Karen Baert, Co-Founder and CEO, Ammobia.
Karen Baert, Ammobia
Scale-up winner: KC8 Capture Technologies
KC8 Capture Technologies is commercialising a carbon capture platform based on potassium carbonate, known as UNO MK3™. The system uses a safe, non-toxic solvent capable of capturing up to 95% of CO₂, with lower capital and lower operating costs compared to traditional amine-based technologies.
“Winning this challenge is a major step toward scaling our technology. Our next goal is to launch pilots and have a full-scale system ready to deploy by the end of next year,” says Greg Ross, CEO and Managing Director, KC8 Capture Technologies.
Greg Ross (L) and Josh Chadwick (R), KC8 Capture Technologies
People’s Choice award
During the finals event at Slush, the twelve finalists pitched their innovations live on stage. Audience members were invited to vote for their favourite solution, and WASE was named the winner of the People’s Choice award.
WASE provides onsite waste-to-energy systems that turn organic waste into clean water and carbon-neutral biogas, helping producers cut costs, generate revenue, and achieve ROI in three to five years. Its patented technology accelerates digestion 10×, boosts methane yield by 30%, removes more organics, and shrinks footprint by up to 70%, with modular reactors for rapid deployment.
“Winning the People’s Choice award is a great recognition of our scale-up journey and growing traction in energy security. We’re raising our Series A, which will accelerate expansion across the EU and USA, and are on track to be generating over 80GWh of bio-methane and renewable natural gas by 2028,” says Thomas Fudge, CEO and Founder, WASE.
Beth Abbott-Stratford (L) and Thomas Fudge (R), WASE
A decade of impact
The New Energy Challenge is organised by Rockstart, Shell, Unknown Group, and YES!Delft. It is an annual open innovation competition that connects promising global start-ups and scale-ups in the energy sector with stakeholders to accelerate the decarbonisation of energy systems, aiming to make a lasting global impact on the energy transition.
Since its launch in 2016, the New Energy Challenge has:
- Received more than 1,500 applications from innovative companies worldwide.
- Supported over 100 finalists through its accelerator programme, providing expert coaching and guidance, helping them to take their ideas to the next level.
- Helped participants secure significant follow-on funding and scale globally.
Over the years, the NEC has covered a wide range of themes, from solar, carbon capture and nature-based solutions to electrification of industry and hydrogen production.
The competition is an important part of Shell’s open innovation efforts, aiming to support solutions that may contribute to the energy transition.
Jury Members’ Quotes
David Kordonowy, Head of Commercial Partnerships, Shell Open Innovation: “We are constantly impressed by the ideas and execution from the startups that apply to the New Energy Challenge and our hope is that, through this competition, we can forge a partnership that both accelerates these amazing innovators and allows Shell to be a part of their journey demonstrating their technologies.”
Jermaine Saaltink, Investment Director at Shell Ventures: “The quality of innovation we’ve seen this year is outstanding. Ammobia stands out for its impressive team and novel technology, targeting a major source of emissions in a large market. KC8 distinguishes itself with strong technical progress and commercial traction, with pilots that address some of the hardest-to-abate emissions.”
Max ter Horst, Managing Partner, Rockstart Energy Fund: “The New Energy Challenge continues to demonstrate the power of collaboration between start-ups and corporates. It’s exciting to see such powerful clean energy solutions and inspiring to experience how much the start-ups got out of the programme.”
Ras Lalmy, Managing Director, YES!Delft: “The winners bring promising tech solutions, and Shell helps open doors to market opportunities. Together, that’s a powerful formula for impact.”
Martin Luxemburg, Director Public & Partnerships, Unknown Group: “Choosing the winners was no easy task. The diversity and quality of solutions this year were exceptional, but KC8 and Ammobia truly impressed us with their vision and execution.”
AFTERMOVIE:
Watch the 2025 aftermovie here
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