XFuel Secures €7.7m Investment from European Innovation Council

(Biofuels International) XFuel, a producer of high-grade sustainable drop-in fuels and carbon removal for the transport sector, has secured €7.7 million in blended finance from the European Innovation Council (EIC), helping it bring its fuel-from-waste technology to transport markets.

XFuel has developed proprietary conversion and refining technologies that can produce cost-competitive low-carbon drop-in fuels for the transport sector.

The sustainable fuels are produced from a variety of scalable waste materials, with a focus on industrial hydrocarbons and biomass residues.

Their drop-in nature indicates they meet fossil fuel specifications and performance, making them fully compatible with existing combustion engines and fossil fuel infrastructure, and allowing for direct replacement today.

XFuel has developed two novel technologies that produce high-grade transport fuel; Chemical liquid refining (CLR), which can refine and crack hydrocarbon liquids and residues into ultra-clean drop-in transport fuels for marine, road and aviation sectors, and Mechanical Carbon Conversion (MECC), which co-processes lignocellulosic waste biomass and waste oils to produce low carbon transport fuels and biochar.

Nicholas Ball, CEO and founder of XFuel, commented on the funding: “XFuel has developed unique and innovative technology to deliver our long-term vision to provide sustainable fuels for heavy transport sectors.

“We see many organisations seeking good value and the sustainable disposal of their waste, while transport fuel off-takers are urgently seeking affordable, low-carbon fuel, not least as regulations tighten and the cost of carbon starts to bite. With the EIC award, we can now strive to bridge this gap and unlock a viable solution to decarbonise these hard-to-abate sectors starting today.

“This is a major milestone in our mission to scale our low-carbon fuel solutions across Europe and beyond.”

XFuel is the first company to produce low-carbon drop-in transport fuel at a comparable price point to fossil fuels.

Already, XFuel has signed MoUs and LoIs with high-profile off-takers in the maritime sector, including world-leading container lines and towage solutions providers. READ MORE

About XFuel
XFuel is an SME with R&D headquarters in Mallorca, Spain, making sustainable fuel a reality for hard-to-abate sectors, namely maritime, aviation and HGV transport sectors.

The company has developed proprietary breakthrough conversion processes and technologies to produce high-grade, drop-in, low-carbon transport fuels from waste, in a cost-efficient way.

Drop-in fuels meet fossil fuel specifications and performance, and are compatible with existing combustion engines and fossil fuel infrastructure, allowing for direct replacement today.

About EIC Accelerator
EIC Accelerator is a funding programme under Horizon Europe, the EU’s framework for research and innovation. EIC Accelerator offers support to start-ups and SMEs that have an innovative, game changing product, service or business model that could create new markets or disrupt existing ones in Europe and even worldwide. The accelerator offers start-ups and SMEs grants of up to €2.5 million combined with equity investments through the EIC Fund ranging from €0.5 to €15 million (up to €10 million as of 2025).

The accelerator exists to support ambitious businesses committed to scaling up and looking for substantial funding alongside investors from private markets. In 2025, the EIC will allocate more than €1.4b of funds. READ MORE