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DirectH2 Inc., an American startup founded and led by Indian entrepreneurs, signs Letter of Intent with Shree Tuljabhavani Sugar Private Limited (STSPL), Maharashtra, India to collaborate on India business development and early funding
DALLAS, Dec. 16, 2025 – The U.S. Start-up, DirectH2 Inc. led by Dr. Vivek V. Dhas, Chief Executive Officer, and Dr. Aditya Mohite, Chief Scientific Officer, is developing game changing Modular Direct Solar-To-Green Hydrogen Technology, has signed a Letter of Intent with Shree Tuljabhavani Sugar Private Limited (STSPL) for India business development and early funding to enable Lowest Cost, High Efficiency Hydrogen Production at the point of use.
Dr. Vivek V. Dhas, a native from Ahilyanagar, Maharashtra, India and who previously helped found Hunt Perovskite Technologies, and was Director of Technology with Cubic Perovskites commented “We are pleased to partner with STSPL in bringing our revolutionary technology to the India market. This LOI for early business development and early-stage funding substantiates our mission and will accelerate delivering scalable, efficient, lowest cost Solar PV-Based, modular hydrogen production at the point of use. STSPL will be an important collaborator for DirectH2 to be a part of India’s National Green Hydrogen Mission (NGHM) and commercial development.”
STSPL, an agricultural company based in Maharashtra, India has a strong business presence in Sugar production, Ethanol Distillery, Power Generation, Compressed Biogas and Biomass since 2001. “This collaboration between DirectH2 and STSPL will strongly support India’s National Green Hydrogen Mission. STSPL plans to provide land for the future expansion of DirectH2’s operation in India, as well as being an offtaker of the green hydrogen, and an early investor of Direct H2,” said Bhavna Bordikar, Chairman & Founder of STSPL.
Dr. Aditya Mohite, Chief Scientific Officer of DirectH2, and inventor of DirectH2’s PV-integrated electrolysis technology (PVIE) at Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA comments, “This business development between DirectH2 and STSPL is most encouraging, as we all work to bring this exciting and needed technology to commercial reality. By integrating and innovating the Solar PV and Electrolyzer technologies into one panel, Direct H2 does not require high cost electricity, nor high-cost electricity delivery infrastructure like in conventional approaches, instead can produce lower cost green hydrogen at the point of need and use. This de-centralizing approach will open-up market applications from fueling fleets to data centers to industrial applications.”
Past News
DirectH2, Inc. Secures Exclusive License from Rice University and Seed Round Funding from HL Energy Ventures
Dallas, TX – March 7, 2025 – DirectH2, Inc., a pioneering hydrogen technology company, has successfully closed its seed round funding from HL Energy Ventures. This investment marks a significant milestone in the company’s journey to revolutionize modular hydrogen production.
With this funding, DirectH2 aims to accelerate the development and commercialization of its cutting-edge hydrogen solutions in collaboration with Rice University, addressing critical challenges in the clean energy sector. DirectH2 has exclusively licensed the intellectual property (IP) from Rice University that underpins its innovative technology.
“HL Energy Ventures is an excellent partner in bringing our breakthrough hydrogen technology to market,” said Michael Irwin, co-founder, DirectH2. “This investment validates our vision and will enable us to further develop scalable, efficient PV-based, modular hydrogen solutions that drive the transition to sustainable energy. Rice will continue to be a critical collaborator in the technology development and commercialization journey”
HL Energy Ventures, the spin-out of Hunt Energy’s technology venture business known for backing transformative energy technologies, sees DirectH2 as a key player in advancing next-generation hydrogen solutions. “DirectH2’s innovation to integrate renewable energy with hydrogen production opens up how green hydrogen can be produced, and we are excited to support their journey,” said Victor Liu, CEO, HL Energy Ventures.
“I am so excited by the launch of DirectH2, a product of years of perseverance, research and creativity of brilliant graduate students at Rice and dedicated collaborators at the Department of Energy laboratories. I am particularly grateful for the support of the DOE Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office. My deepest gratitude to my research team, Materials Physics and Energy Management, and the Office of Technology Transfer and Rice Innovation, and the unwavering support of my family.” said Aditya Mohite, Professor of Chemical Engineering at Rice University. Prof. Mohite is co-founder of DirectH2 and will serve as its Chief Science Officer.
“As Rice University continues to strengthen its role in driving innovation from the lab to the marketplace, DirectH2 represents exactly the kind of transformative impact we aim to achieve. This company is a testament to the power of university breakthroughs in solving global energy challenges, and we are proud to support its journey toward commercializing game-changing hydrogen technology,” said Paul Cherukuri, Chief Innovation Officer, Rice University.
With this funding, DirectH2 is set to expand its team with additional leadership and technical resources, refine its technology, and establish key industry partnerships to bring its innovations to market.
About: DirectH2, Inc is a technology company developing modular hydrogen production solutions. Rice University, officially William Marsh Rice University, is a private research university in Houston, Texas, United States. For more information, please visit www.rice.edu and mpem.rice.edu. HL Energy Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm spun-out of Hunt Energy, and focuses its investments at the early stage in decarbonized fuels, chemicals and related sectors. The firm leverages its background in fuels, electrification and technology, as well as its relationship with Hunt Energy, to de-risk its investments. For more information, please visit www.hlenergyventures.com.
