Ammobia says it has reinvented a century-old technology

Summary

Ammonia might be the world’s most underappreciated chemical. Without it, crops would go unfertilized and billions of people would starve. Humans started making ammonia in large amounts just over a century ago, and since then the process used to make it, known as Haber-Bosch, hasn’t changed much. A new startup, Ammobia, says that it has tweaked the Haber-Bosch process to lower the cost by up to 40%. To prove the technology works on a larger scale, Ammobia has raised a $7.5 million seed round, the company exclusively told TechCrunch. Investors include Air Liquide’s venture arm ALIAD, Chevron Technology Ventures, Chiyoda Corporation, MOL Switch, and Shell Ventures. If the startup succeeds, it could pave the way for ammonia to be used beyond fertilizer. Ammonia is viewed by some as an alternative to hydrogen to decarbonize a range of industries. Countries like Japan and South Korea have developed industrial and transportation roadmaps that rely on ammonia. Hydrogen, the other leading contender, isn’t as energy dense and its transportation infrastructure isn’t as well developed as ammonia. “The big advantage of ammonia is that it’s much easier and more cost-effective to transport and store,” Ammobia co-founder and CEO Karen Baert told TechCrunch. “That opens up a range of opportunities.” But those opportunities won’t amount to much if ammonia production doesn’t clean up its act. The Haber-Bosch process is one of the world’s big polluters, producing nearly 2% of global greenhouse gases. Techcrunch event San Francisco | October 13-15, 2026 To make ammonia, plants using Haber-Bosch employ an iron catalyst to force one molecule of nitrogen to react with three molecules of hydrogen. The reaction requires high heat (500°C) and pressure (around 200 bar or 2,900 psi) to sustain, both of which tend to be supplied by burning fossil fuels. Fossil fuels also provide some of the gas needed as a feedstock. Nitrogen is easy to obtain — the gas makes up nearly 80% of Earth’s atmosphere ...