Wrightbus owner Jo Bamford (pictured) has worked with multi-family office Vedra Partners to launch hydrogen investment fund HYCAP. It aims to raise £1bn, a sum that Mr Bamford believes will be necessary to inject into the UK hydrogen sector if it is to compete with those of other territories.
Capital already stands at more than £200m after a first round of investment. HYCAP’s focus will be on accelerating green hydrogen production and supply to work towards the government’s Net Zero targets. Over 40 such companies within the hydrogen space have already been identified for possible investment through the fund.
“The UK has missed the boat on batteries, a sector dominated by China and the Far East, but we can be global leaders in the production and supply of hydrogen – an economy said to be worth $2.5tn in revenues by 2050,” says Mr Bamford.
He adds that key drivers for an interest in hydrogen include how 70% of global GDP is linked to hydrogen country roadmaps; membership of the Hydrogen Council having increased almost five-fold since 2017; and how the UK government has pledged to have 5GW of low-carbon hydrogen production by 2030.
The HYCAP founding team has significant hydrogen, manufacturing, financing and fund management expertise, with industry hires collectively having had working knowledge of more then 150 utility-scale renewable projects in over 12 countries.
Besides Wrightbus and HCYAP, Mr Bamford’s other businesses involved in the hydrogen economy include Ryze Hydrogen and the recently-founded Fuze, an asset finance provider that will work exclusively with Wrightbus zero-emission models.
