C&EN · Mar 2026
Explained Prometheus's new kerosene pathway, compared costs against petroleum, and noted the company was raising a Series C round with a $150 million target.
We use solar and wind power to make zero net carbon electrofuels
Company research
Public company, workplace, funding, and market signals
Updated Jul 29, 2026
Overview
Prometheus Fuels is a Santa Cruz deep-tech energy company founded in 2019 by Rob McGinnis that uses direct air capture and electrochemistry to turn air and renewable electricity into carbon-neutral liquid fuels, while also developing ultra-long-duration energy storage products.
Primary product
Carbon-neutral liquid fuels (e-diesel, e-jet fuel, methanol, and e-kerosene) made from air and electricity
Founded
2019
Headquarters
Santa Cruz, California, United States
Team size
11-50 employees
Industry
Renewables & Environment
Sub-industry
Carbon-neutral e-fuels and direct air capture
Offices
Santa Cruz, California, United States (HQ)
601 Swift St, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, United States
Business model
Direct sale of synthetic fuels
Long-term offtake agreements
ULDES project / operating-expense energy-storage deployments
Funding
Stage
Series C (raising)
Latest round
Series B · Sep 2021
Sep 2021 · Maersk Growth
Jun 2020 · BMW i Ventures
Mar 2019 · Y Combinator
People & investors
Leadership
Founder, CEO
Chief Creative Officer (CCO)
Director of Engineering
Director of Safety and Security
Chief Technology Officer
Work & culture
Mission-driven, engineering-heavy, and deep-tech focused, with a strong emphasis on proprietary hardware, third-party validation, and teams drawn from Tesla, SpaceX heritage programs, NREL, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Product & market
Pricing
Publicly positioned as cost-competitive with fossil fuels; specific contract pricing is not publicly disclosed.
Differentiators
- —No-desorb DAC avoids the energy-intensive CO2 desorption step
- —100% electrochemical pathway produces fuels without hydrogen
- —Operates at room temperature and atmospheric pressure
- —Works with intermittent off-grid solar and does not require grid power
- —Modular, stack-based deployment model
- —Produces fuels that the company says are competitive with commodity fossil fuels without subsidies
Technology
Direct air capture (no-desorb carbonate capture)
Electrochemical carbonate-to-hydrocarbon conversion
Faraday Reactor hydrocarbon electrolyzer
Off-grid solar power
Modular stack-based systems
Ultra Long Duration Energy Storage (ULDES)
Synthetic paraffinic kerosene / e-kerosene pathway
Methanol, diesel, and jet fuel synthesis
Customers
American Airlines
Aviation operators
Shipping operators
Data centers
Defense / remote power customers
Competitors
Twelve
Air Company
Aircela
Oxylus Energy
Breathe
Scale & contact
Estimated revenue
$1M-$10M
Latest news
Business Wire · Jan 2026
Announced a world-first 100% electrochemical e-kerosene pathway from atmospheric CO2 and renewable electricity, claiming more than 80% lower e-fuel production costs and no hydrogen requirement.
Business Wire · Sep 2025
Announced a claimed breakthrough in DAC economics, saying it reduced direct air capture cost by more than 80% to under $50 per ton.
Business Wire · Jul 2025
Reported commercial readiness for Titan Forge Alpha, a full-scale 50-cell Faraday Reactor validating the core technology at TRL 9 and claiming over 11 million tons of e-fuel pre-sold.
MIT Technology Review · Apr 2022
Profiled Prometheus's technology claims, commercial plans, and investor backing while also highlighting expert skepticism about its cost and scale assumptions.
Jobs and careers at Prometheus
0 jobs at Prometheus
No open positions
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