Korea Export-Import Bank to invest $20 million directly in ammonia power-generation firm Amogy

[Financial News] The Korea Export-Import Bank will make a direct investment of $20 million in Amogy, a company that generates electricity using ammonia. The investment is intended to help a Korean company and Amogy work together to mass-produce and commercialize power-generation modules.
KEXIM Bank said on the 26th that it would participate as the lead investor in Amogy’s $200 million Series C funding round. Series C is a late-stage funding round in which companies raise capital to prepare for mass production, overseas expansion and other initiatives. KEXIM Bank will lead negotiations on the investment terms and efforts to bring in other investors.
This is KEXIM Bank’s second direct investment in a venture company, following its 20 billion won investment in AI semiconductor company FuriosaAI after amendments to the Korea Export-Import Bank Act and its enforcement decree. KEXIM Bank has expanded the scope of its direct investments to include the government’s “seven major SEED” fields, which it identified last August as future growth engines.
Amogy is a climate tech company founded in 2020 in the United States by four Korean PhDs from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). It developed its own catalyst technology for splitting ammonia into hydrogen. Using this technology, it unveiled a modular, carbon-free power-generation system.
The system generates electricity using hydrogen extracted from ammonia. Its power-generation units are standardized and can be connected in multiples according to the amount of electricity needed. Amogy has tested the system’s performance by installing it on drones, tractors and trucks. It has also completed a demonstration of an ammonia-powered tugboat. The company plans to use the investment funds to mass-produce its power-generation modules and move into full-scale commercialization.
KEXIM Bank said, “This investment will also benefit domestic SMEs and mid-sized companies, as well as the shipbuilding and construction industries.” Amogy has entrusted production of its power-generation modules to Wooyang HC, a domestic supplier of energy-plant equipment, and Tanktech, a supplier of safety equipment for ships and offshore plants. KEXIM Bank said that increased module production could also bring these companies more orders and greater opportunities to participate in global green supply chains.
Amogy is also working with major Korean companies. It has agreed with Samsung Heavy Industries to produce ammonia power-generation modules exclusively in Korea. With GS E&C, it has established a joint venture, Amun Energy, to pursue domestic distributed power-generation projects. Distributed generation supplies electricity from power facilities installed close to where it is needed.
“This investment is intended to strengthen the carbon competitiveness of domestic industry and help develop new growth engines for traditional export industries, in line with the government’s Korean-style Green Transformation (K-GX) strategy,” a KEXIM Bank official said. “We will continue to actively expand investment in innovative companies that can help secure new growth engines for Korea’s export industries.”
[email protected] Park Mun-su Reporter