INSIGHTS / Blog

Keep going. Sometimes, you’ve got to move through walls to make things happen.

In the race to Net Zero, Wild Hydrogen is leading the charge with groundbreaking technology to replace fossil fuels. Celebrating its third anniversary, this UK-based climate tech start-up is on a mission to accelerate the transition to renewable energy.

In the first of our series of interviews with SETsquared Community Award Winners, we sat down with the company’s CEO, James Milner, in Hydrogen Week to understand their growth trajectory, future plans and any advice he would share with other climate tech founders.

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The birth of a vision: replacing fossil fuels at pace

Our technology was invented by Mark Wickham, our Chief Technology Officer. When we met our shared passion for replacing fossil fuels at pace, led us to form Wild Hydrogen as co-founders.

We’ve developed an affordable, carbon-negative hydrogen and biomethane production technology. It transforms wet biogenic material – such as agricultural residues and waste streams – into four commercially viable products: biomethane, hydrogen, captured carbon dioxide, and biochar. The process delivers a carbon-negative fuel solution, breaking free from the traditional reliance on fossil fuels.

We’re three years away from having a sellable technology. Currently, at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) six, the goal is to reach TRL nine. To achieve this, we are actively raising funds. We’ve got a £6m open seed round, of which £2.6m has already been secured, and we’re looking to close that in the next two to three months. The investment will provide the necessary runway for the next two years, allowing the team to focus on a front-end engineering design for a 1MW commercial unit. 

A versatile solution for decarbonisation

One of the standout features of Wild Hydrogen’s technology is its versatility. It’s an enabler technology. It can be applied to virtually any industry that currently relies on gas. I’m talking to the likes of breweries, cement plants, and glass manufacturers, and we’ve secured our first industrial partnership with Wales and West Utilities to explore how we can help decarbonise the gas grid – so putting more green molecules into the gas grid – which is a really exciting project.

Funding and investment strategy

To date, we’ve raised £4.2m and have spent £3.2m on developing the technology. The funding has come from a combination of angel investors, family offices, and grants, with grants accounting for about 25% of the total. We want to be as sustainable as possible and have never relied on grants alone, given how unpredictable they can be. They can be helpful in smaller projects. We call them sprints – a six or seven-month project – supported by a grant to tackle a particular engineering challenge.

The role of SETsquared in Wild Hydrogen’s journey

We’ve had some great support through SETsquared on the Hydrogen and Sustainable Transport Economy Accelerator. The IP support, which has helped develop the skills within our team on patents arising from novel ideas and innovation and how to protect those, was very useful. We’ve had market exploration training to better understand our target market and how to present effectively to investors. SETsquared has also introduced us to a number of universities with whom we’re now exploring research projects.

The networking opportunities, in general, have been off the chart and we’ve attended two of their large-scale pitching events.

Advice for aspiring clean tech start-up founders

1. Perseverance is key: Just keep going. You’ve got to run through walls and make it happen.
2. Don’t be scared to pivot: In three years, we’ve probably had three or four major pivots in terms of both market and technology. Our initial idea was to make hydrogen and sell it to replace Calor gas but we soon realised we could have a much more significant impact by focusing on the technology.
3. Maintain a laser focus: Having a clear, focused value proposition is essential. It doesn’t matter if that changes, but investors and customers respond better to a well-defined solution rather than vague technological possibilities.
4. Explore and exploit: Our strategy has been to explore new ideas quickly and move to exploitation mode as soon as a viable product is identified. If you spend too long in explore mode, you can burn through all your cash quickly and not have a product you know works.

What does the future hold?

As I said, don’t be afraid to pivot – and we’re about to make our biggest shift yet. Wild Hydrogen’s technology is built for a future where hydrogen plays a dominant role in decarbonisation. But the reality is that the hydrogen market is still developing, with infrastructure and policy evolving. Rather than waiting for market readiness, we’re accelerating our impact now by focusing on biomethane – an established, commercially viable route to greening the gas grid.

Biomethane already has regulatory approval, strong demand, and immediate industry applications. Denmark has proven its potential, with 40% of its gas grid already supplied by biomethane and a target of 100% by 2035. The UK can achieve the same – but with a more advanced, scalable solution. This pivot ensures commercial sustainability while positioning Wild Hydrogen at the forefront of the clean energy transition. When the hydrogen market catches up, our technology is ready to scale seamlessly.

Over the last 20 years, the UK has transformed its electricity grid, eliminating coal-fired power and achieving one of the world’s cleanest grids, with 50% of electricity now from renewables. That’s mainly from offshore wind, solar, nuclear sources and biomass and it’s taken 25/30 years to achieve. But gas lags behind – only 2% of molecules in the gas grid are green. We can change that.

Small, modular gas generators embedded across the gas grid are the key to scaling renewable gas. Existing biomethane production relies on bacteria and anaerobic digestion, requiring crops or food waste as feedstock. Our technology is three to five times more efficient, doesn’t rely on bacteria, and can process a far wider range of waste materials. Over the last three years, we’ve proven this – and now we’re delivering it from our site in Gloucester.

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Wild Hydrogen’s story is a testament to the power of innovation, resilience, and strategic adaptability. As they continue their mission to decarbonise energy systems, their journey offers valuable lessons for start-ups and established players alike. With biomethane as the bridge and hydrogen as the destination, Wild Hydrogen is paving the way for a truly sustainable energy future.

Find out more about Wild Hydrogen.

Find out more about the Hydrogen and Sustainable Transport Economy Accelerator.