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From Wollongong to Kyoto, Asia-Pacific universities are turning research projects into climate solutions the market can actually use.
Think fire-safe zinc-bromide batteries that thrive in 50 °C heat, metal-organic frameworks that sponge up CO₂ and rogue refrigerants, “no-boil” membranes that slash the energy footprint of chemical plants, modular electrolysers sized for factory gates, and even the balance-of-plant gear that could make fusion power a reality.
Below are six standout spin-outs that prove deep-tech doesn’t have to stay in the lab. Each has moved past proof-of-concept and into real-world pilots or commercial sales, helping decarbonise energy, industry, and transport in one of the world’s most dynamic regions.
Born at Kyoto University in 2015, Atomis builds on Professor Susumu Kitagawa’s pioneering work with metal–organic frameworks (MOFs): tiny, sponge-like crystals able to trap specific gases. By tailoring these nanoporous materials, the company can snag everything from carbon dioxide and methane to spent refrigerants such as CFCs and HFCs.
One headline project, run in collaboration with air-conditioning giant Daikin, captures used refrigerant gas, cleans it up, and reintroduces it into the supply chain. A pilot plant now turns out up to 20 tonnes of MOFs a year, laying the groundwork for broader use in carbon capture, hydrogen storage, and industrial gas separation.
Why it matters
Japan and its neighbours have set net-zero targets, but industrial emissions and leaking refrigerants remain stubborn problems. MOFs give engineers a flexible tool: pack them into filters at factories to strip out CO₂, or deploy them in recycling units that recover high-global-warming HFCs from millions of air-con systems across Asia.
Each kilogram of refrigerant clawed back avoids the climate punch of several tonnes of CO₂, while efficient capture at smokestacks helps decarbonise steel, cement, and chemicals—sectors otherwise hard to clean up.
Noteworthy
Atomis has pushed MOFs beyond the lab. Strategic backing from Daikin and Mitsui Kinzoku funds industrial-scale production and supports POROS™, the company’s in-house design platform that matches a MOF’s pore structure to a target gas.
The Daikin partnership, shows immediate commercial traction: reclaimed fluorocarbons head straight back into new cooling units instead of the atmosphere. With molecule-specific capture now moving into factories, Atomis is arming industries with practical tools for emissions control and circular-economy gains.
Gelion spun out of the University of Sydney in 2015 after the research team rethought flow batteries with a zinc-bromide gel electrolyte. The result is “Endure,” a stationary battery that stays safe in high heat up to 50 °C, can be fully discharged without damage, and, unlike lithium-ion, can’t catch fire. Built from plentiful, fully recyclable materials, these modular units store solar or wind power wherever it is generated.
Why it matters
Renewable rollouts across the Asia-Pacific hinge on robust storage, particularly in hot, remote areas. Gelion’s batteries keep farms, mines, and villages running off-grid, slot neatly into existing sites, and can step in for diesel generators or backup solar farms in Australia’s outback, all without the cooling systems lithium cells need. That makes local, fire-safe storage a practical way for countries to extend clean power and stabilise their grids.
Noteworthy
In lab tests, an Endure cell sat on a 700 °c hotplate and still powered a lamp, without flames or complex fire-suppression gear. Production is already underway with Australian manufacturing partners, creating local green-tech jobs.
Gelion’s 2021 debut on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM provided fresh capital to scale this tough, heat-proof battery, helping drive the region’s shift to renewables from Southeast Asian tropics to Australia’s deserts.
This 2024 spin-off from the National University of Singapore operates in Singapore and India. Its flagship product is a 25 kW anion-exchange-membrane (AEM) electrolyser, the first of its type built in India, to split water into hydrogen and oxygen using renewable electricity.
With roughly 85 % efficiency LHV basis (lower heating value) and no reliance on scarce precious metals, the unit is designed as a modular, on-site system for small- to mid-scale users: factories, fuel-cell vehicle depots, and similar facilities across South and Southeast Asia.
Why it matters
Green hydrogen can help decarbonise refineries, steel, fertiliser, and heavy transport throughout the region, yet most equipment on the market targets large central plants. HydGen offers a locally developed alternative sized for the thousands of small and medium enterprises that either use—or could switch to—clean hydrogen. By making production possible on site, the company supports India’s National Hydrogen Mission and reduces dependence on imported fossil-based hydrogen.
Noteworthy
Spun out through NUS’s Graduate Research Innovations Programme, HydGen pairs academic R&D with commercial focus. A S$2 million seed round in early 2025 is funding scale-up, and the company has already run a live demo at a college in Karnataka.
Its AEM stack uses abundant, low-cost materials instead of platinum or iridium, helping keep capital costs down. By enabling decentralised production, HydGen sidesteps many of the distribution hurdles that slow wider hydrogen adoption, an approach that blends Singapore’s deep-tech resources with India’s manufacturing base.
Hysata, spun out of the University of Wollongong, is bringing to market a “capillary-fed” alkaline electrolyser that turns water and renewable power into green hydrogen with roughly 95 % system efficiency, about 20% better than today’s top commercial units. In energy terms, that’s roughly 41.5 kWh per kilogram, LHV of H₂.
Why it matters
Electricity is one of the priciest inputs in electrolysis, so higher efficiency directly cuts the cost of hydrogen. Hysata’s approach could drive delivered prices below US $1.50 per kg—low enough to make green hydrogen viable for steel, ammonia, heavy transport and other emissions-intensive industries across Australia, Japan, Korea and India. Better efficiency also trims the amount of renewable generation each country must build to hit its hydrogen targets.
Noteworthy
The design removes the gas bubbles that usually form on electrodes, reducing resistance and letting the cell stay simple and inexpensive. In May 2024 Hysata raised US $111 million (A $172 million) in a Series B round that included bp Ventures, Khosla Ventures, IP Group, Templewater, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and Commonwealth Bank. The funds are paying for a gigawatt-scale production line in Wollongong, with first commercial units expected in 2025.
Spun out of Kyoto University in 2019, Kyoto Fusioneering develops the hardware that helps fusion reactors run reliably. The startup focuses on the systems surrounding the fusion core—plasma-heating units, heat-extraction loops, tritium fuel handling, and other balance-of-plant equipment, drawing on decades of university research and expertise.
The goal is straightforward: speed up the arrival of fusion power as a plentiful, zero-carbon energy source.
Why it matters
Many Asia-Pacific economies rely on imported fossil fuels and struggle with the variability of wind and solar energy. Commercial fusion could supply 24/7 clean power without the long-lived waste associated with fission, helping the region cut emissions while bolstering energy security. By focusing on the practical subsystems every reactor will need, Kyoto Fusioneering keeps global fusion efforts moving and positions Japan as a key contributor to mid-century carbon-neutral goals.
Noteworthy
In 2023 the company raised about JPY 10 billion (roughly USD 75 million) from a group of energy and industrial backers—one of the largest fusion rounds in Asia. The funding supports R&D and international expansion as the team aims to be among the first to supply complete fusion plant solutions.
Recognition has followed: Kyoto Fusioneering recently appeared on the Top 100 Climate Tech Startups list for the Indo-Pacific. By linking academic innovation with industry know-how, the company is helping keep Japan and the wider region at the front of the fusion race.
SepPure Technologies spun out of the National University of Singapore in 2018 after the research team set out to give industrial separation the same leap forward reverse-osmosis gave water treatment.
The company’s nano-filter membranes slot into chemical plants and separate solvents, oils, and petrochemicals at the molecular level, no boiling required. Built to withstand aggressive organic solvents, the hollow-fiber filters can cut both energy use and CO₂ emissions by up to 90%, often halving operating costs along the way. Applications range from pharmaceuticals and oil & gas to edible-oil refining and solvent recycling.
Why it matters
Distillation columns consume large amounts of the world’s energy and emit equally large amounts of CO₂, with a significant portion coming from the Asia-Pacific’s massive refining and manufacturing base. Swapping heat-hungry stills for SepPure skids gives factories in India, China, and Southeast Asia a practical route to greener supply chains, trimming fuel bills and decarbonising a sector that is notoriously tough to clean up.
Noteworthy
SepPure’s membranes remain stable where most rivals degrade, a technical edge that helped it raise US $12 million in Series A funding in 2021 and land on BloombergNEF’s Pioneer list.
Because plants can bolt the modules in without major retrofits, the technology delivers an immediate step-change: shut off the boilers, keep the purity. The result is lower emissions, lower costs, and a clear path toward circular solvent reuse, proof that deep-tech spinouts can reshape heavy industry’s sustainability playbook.
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