UK-based startup Rivan has raised €28.7 million to expand domestic synthetic fuel production across Europe. The round was led by IQ Capital with participation from Plural. It follows a €11.4 million seed round closed roughly ten months earlier.
“Rivan [aims to enable] domestic production of synthetic fuels, starting with Synthetic Natural Gas (SNG), at costs competitive with fossil fuels and at scales matching the entire industrial demand of countries like the UK, Spain, and France,” wrote CEO Harvey Hodd. “We think this is critical to energy security, economic growth, and defence.”
Hodd founded Rivan in 2024. The company focuses on fuels for sectors that are difficult to electrify at national scale, including steel, cement, chemicals, and aviation. The company’s stated aim is to reduce synthetic fuel costs below fossil fuels for these uses, while cutting emissions tied to industrial energy demand.
The new funding will support deployment and manufacturing scale. First, they will build out Project Starwell, a plant in Wiltshire, England. It will be the “largest SNG plant in Europe and the first time SNG has ever been injected into the UK gas grid,” according to Hodd.
Next, they intend to scale in the UK with Production Base 1, a hardware plant for fuels while investing in R&D “including direct-air capture, electrolysis, reactor, and solar, to challenge fossil-fuel pricing within the next 2-3 years.”
Rivan’s approach is full vertical integration. It builds each part of the system, from renewable energy generation and hydrogen and CO2 inputs through reactor synthesis and gas grid injection. All hardware is designed and manufactured in the UK. The company says this allows faster iteration and a domestic supply chain.
The pitch is tied to Europe’s energy position. Around 60 percent of the continent’s energy is imported, leaving countries exposed to price shocks and supply risk. Recent gas price spikes tied to conflict in the Middle East are a recent example, and having local producers who can create synthetic fuels within the EU is vital to defence.
