Heliogen develops the Sunlight Refinery™, a turnkey concentrated solar energy system that uses advanced computer vision software to precisely align mirrors and concentrate sunlight to very high temperatures (exceeding 1,000°C). The system is designed to deliver industrial-grade, near-24/7 carbon-free energy in the form of high-temperature heat, power (via a supercritical CO2 turbine), and green hydrogen (via electrolyzers). Heliogen positions the technology to replace fossil fuels in industrial processes such as cement, steel, and petrochemical production. The company was created at Idealab and has demonstrated commercial-scale temperatures and functionality. Heliogen has formed commercial partnerships and agreements, including a Memorandum of Understanding with Rio Tinto to deploy its technology at a borates mine in Boron, California. The company plans to use new funding to develop multiple Sunlight Refinery facilities initially in the United States and later in other solar-rich regions. Heliogen develops concentrated solar power plants that use supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) instead of steam to generate power, targeting much higher efficiency and smaller equipment footprint. The company plans to develop, build and operate an sCO2 power cycle integrated with thermal energy storage heated by a newly built heliostat field. Its technology is designed to produce ultra‑high temperatures above 1,000°C, enabling heat for hard‑to‑decarbonize industrial processes such as cement, steel and petrochemicals. Heliogen was launched in November 2019 and is backed by Bill Gates, Steve Case and Patrick Soon‑Shiong. The company recently received a $39 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to advance its sCO2 project and integrated thermal storage demonstration. The DOE award is part of a $130 million program funding 67 solar R&D projects, and Heliogen’s $39 million allocation was substantially larger than most other awards. Heliogen develops concentrated-solar thermal systems that it says can exceed 1,000°C, significantly higher than prior systems (~565°C) and sufficient for industrial heat and hydrogen production. The company aims to use concentrated sunlight to create and replace fossil fuels for industrial processes. Heliogen is led by Idealab founder and chairman Bill Gross and is working with partner Parsons on deployment. It has a pilot plant in Lancaster. Financially, Heliogen has attracted backing from notable investors including Bill Gates, Idealab, Neotribe and Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong’s Nant Capital. As part of its recent funding, Neotribe’s founder Swaroop “Kittu” Kolluri and Dr. Soon-Shiong have joined Heliogen’s board.

Total raised

$122M

Funding rounds

3

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Jun 2021