Investors continue to take bets on New Mexico tech startups, including renewable energy company Pajarito Powder in Albuquerque, which disclosed a $9.4 million investment round on Wednesday.
A Form D filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission says 24 investors have participated in the offering — its first since 2013 — which pushed the startup's total amount of investment disclosed with the SEC to more than $10 million.
Of the new investment, about $972,000 will be used to pay the company's executives, according to the SEC filing. It is unclear what the rest of the money will be used for.
Pajarito Powder declined comment on the investment round, citing a planned announcement in the future
The company creates catalyst materials for fuel cells, which generate electricity, and electrolyzers, which produce hydrogen. It says it works with automotive part makers, fuel cell component companies and electrolyzer manufacturers.
The company, led by cofounders Thomas Stephenson and Paul Short, claims that its catalyst materials extend the working life of fuel cells. The company even offers catalysts that are made without precious metals, as well as catalyst solutions tailored to customer needs. Its proprietary production process called VariPore allows for materials to be manufactured at scale, according to its website.
The primary markets for fuel cell catalysts were in Asia. On the other hand, North America had strong demand for electrolyzer catalysts.
Pajarito has been working diligently to test and prove its products over the years. The company has intellectual property that was licensed from the University of New Mexico and Los Alamos National Laboratory, according to a Pajarito presentation for Sandia National Laboratories from 2016.
In 2018, it received a contract worth nearly $1 million from the DOE for the continued development of fuel cells, Business First reported. It also supported research from researchers at the University of Connecticut, the Colorado School of Mines and National Renewable Energy Laboratory to help accelerate the development of high-volume fabrication of components for energy generation technologies.
American automotive giant General Motors worked alongside the startup on a government project to develop and demonstrate a fuel cell component for medium and heavy-duty truck uses. While the internal combustion engine that runs on gasoline is commonly used in automobiles today, some believe that clean fuel cells will eventually replace them. Some automakers already use them, including the Hyundai, Honda and Toyota.
While it is unknown who Pajarito's most recent investors are, the startup has received venture capital investment in the past from the Verge Fund in Albuquerque and Omphalos Venture Partners out of Minnesota.
The company is coming off a successful 2020 in which it doubled its commercial sales when compared to the year before, according to the company. Pajarito cited "increased interest" in fuel cell products and "rapidly growing demand" for electrolyzer materials for the increase.
