General Catalyst believes the venture business has a responsibility to invest in companies that not only withstand the test of time, but also forge the path toward global resilience. This entails backing companies that leverage technology to address the most pressing issues facing our world, such as climate change and the energy crisis. Staggeringly, upwards of 95% of hydrogen is currently produced from fossil fuels, accelerating the perilous path toward an uninhabitable planet. It has become increasingly clear that the time is now to invest in technology that boldly reimagines the archaic and broken energy ecosystem and ensures life on this planet is sustainable for current and future generations.
How can we engineer a more viable world that not only permits, but also enables, all to flourish? On the path to a clean energy future, there is promise in green hydrogen—that is, when hydrogen is produced through renewable energy-powered electrolysis—yielding a powerful and energy dense carbon-free fuel. While the promises of green hydrogen are massive, there are significant practical constraints limiting its broad accessibility, most notably the high cost of transportation and storage, given its highly flammable nature. Where most have been daunted by the complexity of engineering a sustainable energy future, co-founders Siva Yellamraju and Ali-Amir Aldan saw an opportunity to exercise the audacity of their ambition and build Fourier. Their vision aims to catalyze a sustainable energy future by architecting an advanced, modular on-site hydrogen production system.
Today at General Catalyst, we are excited to announce our investment in Fourier’s seed round in an effort to move toward a globally resilient, clean energy future by increasing green hydrogen accessibility. Prior to Fourier, Siva co-founded three successful video collaboration, deep learning and consumer hardware businesses, which were acquired by Polycom, Google, and Apple, respectively, and has worked with Ali for 8 years. With this funding, the team plans to finalize and deploy its first prototypes and expand its core engineering team—seeking a new class of engineers looking to ambitiously solve urgent climate challenges with scalable, practical solutions.
As Siva likes to say, the time has come to stop imagining a better world and start engineering it. Over the coming decades, hydrogen use cases are expected to expand to industries like transportation, heating and cooling, and power storage. We are thrilled to be partnering with the mission-driven Fourier team to empower a globally resilient, sustainable energy future.
