Business
Advancing Electrolyzers
with Earth-Abundant Resources
Leveraging abundant resources is a powerful approach to achieving low-cost, scalable green hydrogen production. At pHydrogen, we have developed a novel electrolyzer that uses inexpensive metals such as iron together with seawater—eliminating reliance on rare or costly materials. Our scale-up efforts have led to a significant reduction in both hydrogen production costs and capital expenditure, positioning us to play a central role in the next-generation sustainable energy infrastructure.
Global Production
of Metals and Ores
Distribution
of Water on Earth
Technology
Electrolyte Engineering
for Novel Functionalities
The electrolyzer performance depends heavily on the electrolyte, which defines materials, reaction conditions, mechanisms, and more. We have developed a unique non-extreme pH electrolyte, distinct from conventional alkaline or acidic (PEM) systems, enabling the stable operation of inexpensive metals in seawater environments. Our system has already demonstrated performance comparable to traditional alkaline electrolyzers, opening the door to more cost-effective and sustainable hydrogen production.
Team
Founder & CEO
Takahiro Hida
Joined Natee, Inc. in 2019 as a founding member, driving business strategy and corporate sales. Played a key role in scaling the company to over 50 employees within four years. To develop globally competitive technical expertise, entered the master's program at the University of Tokyo's Takanabe Laboratory in 2023, conducting research on non-extreme pH water electrolysis systems. Founded pHydrogen in 2025 and currently serves as CEO.
Co-Founder & CTO
Kazuhiro Takanabe
Completed his doctoral study at Tokyo Institute of Technology in 2006, then became a postdoctoral researcher at UC Berkeley in the same year, and joined the University of Tokyo as a project assistant professor in 2008. In 2010, moved to KAUST in Saudi Arabia as an independent principal investigator, researching various heterogeneous catalysis studies, including innovative water electrolysis systems. Appointed Professor at the Department of Chemical System Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, University of Tokyo, in 2018. Since 2023, leads the water electrolysis team for GteX (Green Technologies of Excellence). Received the Chemical Society of Japan Creative Award in FY2024.
