Addis Energy — Reimagining Ammonia Production

At Pillar VC, we get most excited about breakthrough technologies that can address global challenges by reshaping entire industries. Our recent investment in Addis Energy is a perfect example.

We bumped into our old friend, Yet-Ming Chiang, a brilliant and prolific MIT professor who we had worked with in two previous startups. “What are you up to Yet?” we asked. “Ammonia” he said.

Ammonia. Huh? Not AI Agents? Not deep brain stimulation? Not defense tech? Not the flavor du jour?

We replied, “We’d like to learn more.”

Now, we knew a little bit about ammonia as the founding investors in Kula Bio, a company that uses microbes to deliver nitrogen to plants. We know that Ammonia is not just another industrial chemical — its fertilizer, the bedrock of feeding the global population. And we knew that the traditional process called Haber Bosch was over 100 years old, required massive capital investments and contributed to 2% of all CO2 emissions worldwide.

Yet introduced us to his co-founders, Professor Tim Abate from MIT, and recent HBS grads Michael Alexander and Charlie Mitchell, both of whom had worked in oil and gas. It was the perfect combination of commercial and operational skills meeting world class innovators.

They shared their idea — use the heat and pressure of the Earth to build a chemical reactor underground. The promise? An ammonia production process is both better for the planet (net energy positive) and cheaper than traditional approaches.

It’s a mind-blowing idea, and exactly the kind of thing that makes our blood race. And we’re not alone — we were delighted to partner with The Engine and Voyager Ventures on this initial round of funding. Shortly thereafter, the company was awarded a $4.5M grant from ARPA-E.

Some of the world’s most impactful companies are born when faculty, students, and industry experts move technology out of the lab and into the market. Addis Energy has incredible potential, and our team at Pillar VC is eager to support them as they work towards commercializing their platform.