Reverion GmbH
Reversible solid oxide fuel cell power plants — a TUM spin-off based in Eresing, Bavaria, following its Series B
Reverion is a German EnergyTech company spun out of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in 2022. Per company disclosure, the concept originated in 2015 during Stephan Herrmann’s doctoral research, developed alongside his advisor, Prof. Hartmut Spliethoff of TUM’s Chair of Energy Systems. The core system design is the technical origin of the business; incorporation followed a successful prototype.
Doctorate in energy systems from TUM; previously a group leader at TUM’s Chair of Energy Systems. Developed the reversible SOFC system design during his PhD. Nominated, together with Fischer and Prof. Spliethoff, for the 2026 Deutscher Zukunftspreis (German Federal President’s Award for Technology and Innovation), per self-published material.
TUM alumnus and Managing Director. In the Series B announcement he cited clearing the order backlog and steering the company toward long-term profitability. We read his remit as operations and the transition to serial manufacturing.
Introduced as CTO, CPO and CDO respectively in a January 2023 interview. All five founders are TUM alumni, and the company cites more than 25 years of combined energy-systems R&D experience at TUM. The team was named TUM Entrepreneurs of Excellence in 2026.
Professor of energy systems at TUM. Per the company, he helped shape the technology in its early days and has remained a mentor since. Board or shareholder status is not confirmed.
• Tracxn lists three founders (Herrmann, Fischer, Weinrich); company and TUM materials name five. We adopt the latter and flag the conflict.
• Titles for Hauck, Weinrich and Poblotzki are as of 2023 sources; their current roles as of September 2026 are unverified.
Reverion manufactures containerised, reversible SOFC power plants. The systems convert biogas, natural gas or hydrogen into electricity and, in reverse (electrolysis) mode, convert surplus renewable power into storable gases. The company states that it captures CO₂ from the fuel stream in pure form; on biomethane, that CO₂ is biogenic, which it argues makes operation carbon-negative.
We frame the business along three axes: product technology, customer-segment expansion, and manufacturing infrastructure.
A single system performs both gas-to-power and power-to-gas. The company cites 74.2% measured electrical efficiency, which press coverage contrasts with roughly 40% for conventional gas engines at biogas sites.
At the 2024 Series A, disclosed pre-orders above $100M came mainly from farmers and industrials. With this round, management foregrounds on-site power for AI data centres facing grid bottlenecks as the next growth market.
The bulk of proceeds goes to a new German plant (250 MW per year, a tenfold increase, with up to 800 new jobs). Core SOFC stacks are covered by a supply contract with Doosan Fuel Cell worth about $77M, delivered in phases through 2H 2027.
Our view: Reverion is moving from a proven prototype to a serial manufacturer. Seven plants in regular operation and a secured stack supply contract support execution, but the plant site is undisclosed and the tenfold capacity step-up remains a plan. The key underwriting variables, production yield and cost curve, are not disclosed.
• The 74.2% electrical efficiency is a company-reported, measured figure; we found no independent verification. TUM and Ceres materials cite “up to 80%”, which may reflect a different basis (design vs. measured).
• “$2B+” is revenue potential of the project pipeline, not contracted backlog. Revenue, profitability and utilisation are not disclosed.
• The company describes its technology as “high-temperature” fuel cells, while Doosan describes the supplied stacks as mid-to-low-temperature SOFC. Whether this reflects a technology generation change is unconfirmed.
Reverion progressed from a small seed to a Series A that included public grant funding, and now to a Series B that steps capital up materially, led by European institutional and strategic investors. Recurring participation by EU and German public capital (EIC Fund, KfW Capital) is a distinguishing feature.
A first seed round is recorded in June 2022 (amount undisclosed). In April 2023, UVC Partners, Green Generation Fund, Extantia Capital, Doral Energy-Tech Ventures and biomethane trader Landwärme invested €8.5M. A letter of intent for a strategic partnership with Bilfinger followed in September 2023.
Led by Energy Impact Partners (EIP), with new participation from Honda and the EIC Fund and follow-on from existing investors. The company cited fulfilling more than $100M of customer pre-orders and starting serial production as the use of proceeds.
The company announced a €19.5M award from the European Innovation Fund (InnovFund). As a non-dilutive source, it adds financial flexibility.
Structure: Led by Kembara, Mundi Ventures’ €1 billion deeptech and climate fund. New investors are Allianz, KfW Capital, Aurum Impact and Carbon Equity; existing backers Extantia, EIP, UVC Partners, EIC Fund, alfa8 and Possible Ventures participated. It is the largest round in the company’s history.
Use of proceeds: A major share goes to a megafactory in Germany (250 MW per year) and to scaling the product into the megawatt class. Management’s stated aim is to clear the backlog and move toward long-term profitability.
Our assessment: Pairing an institutional investor (Allianz) with public capital (KfW Capital, EIC Fund) is a structure well suited to funding manufacturing capex. Valuation is undisclosed, so we cannot assess pricing.
• Amount: €154.2M ($175M) — largest round to date
• Lead: Kembara (Mundi Ventures, €1B deeptech and climate fund)
• New investors: Allianz, KfW Capital, Aurum Impact, Carbon Equity
• Primary use: German megafactory (250 MW/yr, 10x capacity), megawatt-class product
• Valuation: Undisclosed
• Cumulative funding differs by source: Tracxn $78.8M (pre-Series B), Seedtable $70.5M (two rounds), and Tech Startups at least $237M across Series A and B. We do not collapse these into a single figure.
• The €56M Series A includes non-dilutive grants, so the pure equity amount is unconfirmed. The equity vs. non-equity split of the Series B is also undisclosed.
• Trending Topics reports KfW Capital participated via a UVC-managed vehicle; we could not confirm this in the company announcement.
Reverion’s positioning rests on the intersection of a technology that combines generation, storage and carbon capture in one SOFC system, academia-derived patents, and market timing driven by surging data-centre power demand. Tracxn classifies Bloom Energy, among others, as a leading competitor.
The same unit alternates between power generation and electrolysis, so customers get surplus-renewable storage and firm power from a single asset. The company claims switching in under one minute (not independently verified). This is a structural differentiator versus one-way fuel cell vendors.
The company-reported 74.2% electrical efficiency compares favourably with conventional gas engines on fuel use. It bears directly on unit power cost at fuel-intensive sites, but as a self-reported figure we underwrite it conservatively pending independent verification.
Per the company, pure CO₂ capture on biomethane makes operation carbon-negative. Kembara argues this attribute matters alongside efficiency in the data-centre market. The same logic does not hold when running on fossil natural gas.
Seven plants in regular operation, more than $100M of pre-orders (2024 disclosure) and a large stack supply contract with Doosan Fuel Cell support manufacturing readiness. In our assessment, however, the fact that stacks are Doosan-built under a Ceres licence also represents a structural dependence on an external critical component.
Our overall assessment: Technology differentiation, academia-derived IP and field deployments together compare well with early-stage EnergyTech peers. Scale, however, lags established SOFC players such as Bloom Energy, which already operate at manufacturing and public-market scale. Production cost, yield and delivery discipline are the key proof points over the next 12–24 months. Public information currently limits any financials- or valuation-based judgement.
• Quantitative comparison with peers (efficiency, capex per kW, LCOE) could not be performed for lack of public data; the competitor list relies on Tracxn’s classification.
• The new plant’s site, construction and start-up timing, and total capex are undisclosed.