Spiral Hydrogen wants to change that by developing technology for more efficient and affordable green hydrogen production. The startup recently secured €2.7 million in funding and its first pilot project for a new type of hydrogen technology designed to produce hydrogen more efficiently and at lower cost.
An engineer’s obligation
Juri Volodin, founder and CEO of Spiral Hydrogen, grew up around engineering. As a fourth-generation engineer, he studied and worked across Estonia, Delft and Norway, with a focus on electrical engineering, wind energy and manufacturing. During an internship in the hydrogen sector eight years ago, he began questioning how hydrogen was produced. According to Juri, the industry remained too dependent on fossil fuels, while existing systems were not efficient enough for industrial scale.
That realization became the starting point for Spiral Hydrogen. Over the years, Juri developed hundreds of theoretical concepts for a different type of hydrogen technology, eventually leading to the company’s current electrolyzer design.
We can talk about AI, but nothing moves forward without energy.”
– Juri Volodin, founder and CEO of Spiral Hydrogen
From theory to design
After years of theoretical designs, Spiral Hydrogen moved from calculations and sketches to physical prototypes. That phase brought a different kind of challenge. The team built seven versions of the system, repeatedly rebuilding and refining parts of the technology as new problems emerged. Some of the key breakthroughs came outside the office, says Juri, often during training sessions or in the shower.
At one point, you stop wondering if it’s theoretically possible. You start seeing it work in real life.”
From design to first pilot
One of the biggest turning points for Spiral Hydrogen came when a potential pilot partner asked the team to deliver a technical solution within an extremely short timeframe. The company had one week to deliver a technical solution under heavy pressure, without certainty that the collaboration would continue afterwards. The result laid the foundation for Spiral Hydrogen’s first pilot project and helped secure confidence in the technology. “It was a brutal week, but we delivered,” said Juri Volodin.
Building for industry
Spiral Hydrogen targets industries where hydrogen is already essential, including chemicals, oil refineries and ammonia production. The company’s first pilot project, together with Switch 2 Offshore, explores ammonia production on floating offshore platforms, where efficiency and scalability are critical.
The team recently relocated to the Netherlands and is now building further from Rotterdam’s industrial ecosystem. With fresh funding secured, Spiral Hydrogen is expanding its team and preparing to bring the technology from prototype stage to industrial validation.
We’re building something you can actually touch and test. That’s when things become real.”
– Juri Volodin, founder and CEO of Spiral Hydrogen
Spiral Hydrogen is currently seeking an electrical engineer to help build their pilot system. Sounds exciting? Learn more here and apply.
