Green founders: Dominik Schollenberger, Benedikt Stolz and Philip Kessler (from left) and have developed Turn2X, a biogas plant that is intended to replace natural gas Turn2X
We have little time left to act. Because soon we will be beyond the much-cited 1.5-degree target and the effects of climate change will then be almost impossible to stop. One piece of the puzzle for saving greenhouse gases such as CO2 are renewable energies, mostly from wind or sun. According to current data from the Federal Network Agency, they cover more than half of Germany’s electricity consumption. But in order to be able to completely do without fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas and the like, other alternatives are needed: for example renewable natural gas. That’s what the startup Turn2X is working on – and gets millions of investors for it.
Turn2X, formerly called Turn Energy, raised 4.3 million euros in the seed round. The money comes from lead investor LEA Partners from Karlsruhe, who have already invested in the hyped AI startup Aleph Alpha, as well as Verve Ventures from Switzerland and First Momentum Ventures from Karlsruhe.
The fresh capital is to flow into the expansion of the startup’s so-called RNG systems throughout Europe. “RNG” stands for “Renewable Natural Gas”, i.e. “biogas” or in the case of the start-up for “renewable natural gas”. This is produced from water and carbon dioxide: water first becomes hydrogen via electrolysis and then methane, i.e. biogas, by adding climate-neutral CO2 – for example from the combustion of biomass. This can then be used by industry instead of climate-damaging natural gas.
A Turn2X biogas plant is located in Falkenhagen, Brandenburg. Others are to be set up in Spain, Italy and Norway Turn2X
The technology of Turn2X comes from years of research by founder and CTO Dominik Schollenberger, who received his doctorate from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. Together with the IT expert Philip Kessler (CEO) and the quantum physicist and investor Benedikt Stolz (COO), a start-up was created a year ago that is based in Munich.
Turn2X: Production of biogas even with fluctuating energy supply
The basic process for producing biogas is of course not new. What is special about the team’s methanation reactor, however, is that it can handle variable load changes. This means that the machines should also be able to cope with the fluctuating energy supply from renewable energies – solar cells, for example, only produce energy when the sun is shining, wind turbines only when there is wind.
The startup’s first biogas plant is located in Brandenburg. The next ones are to be set up in Spain, Italy and Norway. Electricity from renewable energies is particularly cheap there, since a lot of energy can be generated with solar systems in southern countries, for example. Hydropower is the largest energy supplier in Norway.
Here we exclusively show how the founders of Turn2X managed to collect several million euros with their pitch deck. You can also find this and other investor presentations on our pitch deck topic page.