11 May 2026
"This support is a strong endorsement of the progress the company has made and of the wider potential for high-efficiency, fuel-flexible generation"
Northstar Ventures has announced a £300,000 investment from the north-east universities-backed North East Spinout Inspire Fund into H2CHP, a pioneering cleantech company and a spinout of Durham University.
The commitment forms part of a round of £1.5m alongside £500,000 from Blackfinch Ventures and £700,000 of grant funding from Innovate UK’s investor partnership programme to develop a linear electric motor that does not utilise permanent magnets and rare-earth materials, which will help remove a significant supply-chain risk.
H2CHP is developing next-generation distributed electric generators for use in data centres, ports, construction, backup power, and microgrid deployment. Its fuel-flexible technology, which means the generators can be run on hydrogen, ammonia, biofuels and e-fuels, helps mitigate supply-chain risk, cut carbon emissions and improve performance.
The company aims to disrupt the multibillion-dollar global generator market, aided by rising pressure to reduce emissions and persistent grid reliability challenges.
The business has achieved several significant milestones, including most recently being accepted to the Hydrogen Innovation Initiative organised by Connected Places Catapult and receiving the TechX Accelerator Award for Economic Impact.
It has also raised more than £1.1 million in Innovate UK funding to support its Clean Maritime Demonstrator project.
Given the company’s progress, it is not surprising that the UK’s leading growth platform, Tech Nation, has selected H2CHP to join its 2026 Climate Programme as one of 25 leading climate tech startups in the UK.
H2CHP’s technology builds on more than a decade of research led by Professor Tony Roskilly, the Chairman and academic founder of H2CHP. He is Professor of Energy Systems at Durham University, Co-Director of the Durham Energy Institute, and a global expert in clean energy.
Newcastle University, where Professor Roskilly previously worked, also retains a shareholding in the business. CEO Stephen Hampson joined through the Northern Accelerator “Executives into Business” programme and has a strong background in engineering and venture capital.
The £22.5m North East Spinout Inspire Fund is backed by the universities of Durham, Newcastle, Northumbria, Sunderland and Teesside and The North East Combined Authority (via the North East Fund). It has been set up to commercialise the research and innovation emerging from the North East’s five universities.
Over the past year, Northstar Ventures has engaged closely with H2CHP through the Port of Tyne accelerator and Durham University’s technology transfer office. The company is now entering a critical phase of pre-deployment testing. With strong academic foundations, an experienced leadership team and growing interest from industry, H2CHP is well positioned to scale as a leading provider of flexible, clean power.
Tom O’Neill, Investment Manager at Northstar Ventures said: “We are very pleased to complete our investment in H2CHP, which is the first in a Durham University spin-out from the North East Spinout Inspire Fund.
"We have been consistently impressed by Tony, Stephen and the rest of the team as they tackle a growing and serious challenge in supplying clean, flexible power to a rapidly expanding market.
"The market is driven by organisations seeking to decarbonise their existing operations in difficult sectors such as Maritime, as well as growth in new sectors such as data centres fuelled by the growth of AI and associated energy needs.”
Prof. Tony Roskilly, Chairman and Co-Founder, H2CHP and Professor, Durham University said: “From the outset, H2CHP has been about translating advanced research in free-piston engine systems into a commercially meaningful power generation technology.
"This support is a strong endorsement of the progress the company has made and of the wider potential for high-efficiency, fuel-flexible generation to play an important role in the transition to lower-carbon, more resilient energy systems.”
Stephen Hampson, Co-Founder, H2CHP says: “This support is an important step for H2CHP as we continue to develop and demonstrate our free-piston linear generator technology. We believe there is a major opportunity for high-efficiency, low-emission and fuel-flexible local power generation in applications such as microgrids, EV charging, ports and data centres, where resilience, cost and decarbonisation all matter.”