Calicat

What Calicat does

Calicat (legal name California Catalysts, Inc.; formerly H2U Technologies) is a Chatsworth, California-based clean-energy materials company that develops and commercializes non-iridium electrocatalysts and stack components for PEM and AEM water electrolyzers. The company operates an AI-driven Catalyst Discovery Engine (CDE) that combines combinatorial physical vapor deposition, drop-on-demand printing, XRF/XRD characterization, scanning droplet cell screening, and machine learning to screen thousands of material compositions per week, claimed to be 10,000 times faster than conventional discovery methods. Core commercial products include the Amplifier Catalyst Coated Membrane (CCM) as an iridium replacement for oxygen evolution reaction catalysis and the Defender Porous Transport Layer (PTL) coating, alongside proprietary non-iridium OER catalyst families for licensing.

The business model is a horizontal platform spanning three revenue streams: Testing and Modeling as a Service (TMaaS) offering access to what Calicat describes as the world's largest collection of single-cell PEM electrolyzer test stations, catalyst and component licensing to electrolyzer manufacturers, and direct hardware sales of Defender and Amplifier components. Go-to-market is enterprise field sales augmented by a free LCOH calculator tool for product-led demand generation. Primary customer segments are electrolyzer manufacturers seeking to reduce iridium dependency, green hydrogen producers targeting lower LCOH, and research institutions requiring PEM testing infrastructure. Calicat holds an exclusive license to high-throughput catalyst discovery technology developed under the $122M U.S. Department of Energy-funded Caltech JCAP program and has entered joint development or R&D agreements with Tokyo Gas (Japan, 2023), De Nora (Italy, 2023), and Ion Power (U.S., 2025) to validate and commercialize its materials.

Name

Calicat

Legal name

California Catalysts, Inc.

Website

https://calicat.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Calicat develops AI-driven non-iridium electrocatalysts and electrolyzer components (Defender PTL coating, Amplifier CCM) for PEM/AEM water electrolyzer manufacturers and green hydrogen producers, commercializing technology exclusively licensed from Caltech's DOE-funded JCAP program.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Hydrogen Electrolyzer Materials and Components

NAICS

Chemical Manufacturing (325), Instruments and Related Products Manufacturing for Measuring, Displaying, and Controlling Industrial Process Variables (334513), Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing (334516)

SIC

Miscellaneous Chemical Products (2890), Laboratory Analytical Instruments (3826), Industrial Instruments For Measurement, Display, And Control (3823)

akta.pro primary industry

Test, Measurement & Calibration Equipment Manufacturing Services (ATE, DAQ, metrology electronics) (IMAGAGAH)

Keywords

• Non-iridium catalysts
• PEM electrolyzer components
• Electrolyzer testing services
• Catalyst discovery platform
• Green hydrogen materials

Headquarters

HQ city

Chatsworth

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Testing and Modeling as a Service (TMaaS): Provides third-party access to Calicat's testing infrastructure, electrochemistry expertise, real-time monitoring, and levelized cost modeling. Clients can run experiments on the same equipment and protocols used for internal catalyst commercialization programs.
2. Non-Iridium Catalyst Licensing: Licenses catalyst compositions and catalyst discovery engine technology to electrolyzer manufacturers and energy companies for use in commercial PEM and AEM water electrolyzers.
3. Advanced Electrolyzer Components: Sale of proprietary products including Defender (PTL coating) and Amplifier (CCM) to electrolyzer manufacturers and operators seeking improved performance and reduced LCOH.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Calicat develops and commercializes advanced non-iridium catalysts and stack components (Defender PTL coating and Amplifier CCM) for PEM and AEM water electrolyzers, using a proprietary AI-driven Catalyst Discovery Engine (CDE) that screens thousands of material compositions per week. The company also offers Testing and Modeling as a Service (TMaaS), providing third-party access to the world's largest collection of single-cell PEM electrolyzer test stations, and licenses its catalyst compositions and discovery technology to electrolyzer manufacturers and energy companies.

Product overview

Calicat (formerly H2U Technologies, California Catalysts) offers a portfolio of advanced materials and stack components for the electrolyzer industry. The core portfolio consists of two main component products: Defender (PTL coating) and Amplifier (CCM), both designed to eliminate iridium dependency and reduce LCOH. The company also develops proprietary non-iridium OER catalysts through its AI-powered Catalyst Discovery Engine (CDE). Supporting offerings include Testing and Modeling as a Service (TMaaS) for PEM industry testing, and an LCOH Model calculator. The products address LCOH holistically by solving material science constraints including catalyst layer resistance, gas recombination, and iridium scarcity.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Catalyst Discovery Engine (CDE): AI-driven high-throughput catalyst discovery engine that enables rapid screening of thousands of material compositions per week for developing non-iridium OER catalysts.
• Defender
• Amplifier
• Testing and Modeling as a Service (TMaaS)

Products and services

• Amplifier A durable Catalyst Coated Membrane (CCM) that serves as a non-iridium replacement for primary Oxygen Evolution Reaction (OER) catalysis in PEM electrolyzers. Stable for thousands of hours with no experimentally discernable voltage drift as current density increases, and designed to thrive at high current densities for low capacity factor installations. Delivers lower Levelized Cost of Hydrogen than iridium in low-capacity-factor installations.
• Defender A catalyst coating applied to the Porous Transport Layer (PTL) that reduces electrical losses and defends against deteriorating catalyst-coated membranes. Increases electrical conductivity, provides co-catalysis at high power input, and recombines gases to extend operating life of PEM stacks. Demonstrates H2 crossover at 25% of bare Ti baseline after 800 cycles of accelerated stress testing and delivers 3% efficiency improvement and 7% LCOH reduction with payback in 2.5-3 years.
• Non-Iridium OER Catalysts Non-iridium OER (Oxygen Evolution Reaction) catalysts for PEM and AEM water electrolyzers, developed through the proprietary Catalyst Discovery Engine. Multiple families of earth-abundant catalysts have been validated through in-house and third-party testing. Licensed for use in commercial PEM and AEM water electrolyzers.
• Testing and Modeling as a Service (TMaaS) A service offering that provides third-party access to Calicat world's largest collection of single-cell PEM electrolyzer test stations, electrochemistry analysis, real-time monitoring via Grafana dashboards, and Levelized Cost of Hydrogen modeling. Includes specialized Accelerated Stress Testing (AST) protocols and custom LCOH modeling with client data. Pricing is custom and substantially lower than standard US market rates due to internal utilization of test infrastructure.

Quantifiable outcome

• 70% reduction in LCOH improvement potential through non-iridium catalyst replacement
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability3 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Ion PowercoreTechnology or Integration · 23 December 2025Ion Power utilizes Calicat's Testing and Modeling as a Service (TMaaS) to develop high-performance recycled membranes from end-of-life NAFION water electrolysis membranes. Third-party testing at Calicat confirmed membrane durability at current densities above 2.2A/cm2 and temperatures up to 80°C. Future work will leverage Calicat's high capacity of cell testing to accelerate Ion Power's product development. Supported under DOE SBIR Phase II Award number DE-SC0023826.
• De NoracoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 December 2023R&D agreement where De Nora utilizes Calicat's Catalyst Discovery Engine to identify and develop low-cost, high-performance electrocatalysts for hydrogen production through water electrolysis. De Nora advances its growth path in energy transition with electrocatalysts 10,000 times faster than the market. De Nora is the world's largest supplier of activated electrodes and catalyst-coated membranes, with 25.85% stake in thyssenkrupp nucera AG & Co. KGaA.
• Tokyo GascoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 March 2023Multi-year Joint Development Agreement (JDA) to discover novel catalysts and develop techniques to apply catalysts onto membranes using Calicat's proprietary Catalyst Discovery Engine (CDE). Partnership addresses cost and supply chain issues for rare platinum group metal (PGM) electrocatalyst materials. Tokyo Gas aims to develop low-cost, high-performance, non-iridium catalysts for PEM electrolyzers and produce renewable hydrogen at affordable costs.
• Caltech / JCAP ProgramcoreTechnology or IntegrationExclusive licensing of the high-throughput catalyst discovery engine from Caltech's Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP) program. The technology stems from ten years of research and development funded by the U.S. Department of Energy totaling $122M in grants to Caltech and other research institutions. Founded to commercialize these DOE grants.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• H2Pro: Israeli developer of non-precious-metal catalysts for hydrogen production. Most direct comparable to Calicat's non-iridium OER catalyst mission and shares the same PEM electrolyzer commercialization pathway.
• SunGreenH2: Singapore-based pioneer of non-PGM catalysts for PEM water electrolysis. Directly competes in the same niche of replacing iridium with earth-abundant materials for green hydrogen.
• Pajarito Powder: US developer and manufacturer of advanced catalysts and supports for fuel cells and electrolyzers. Comparable as a specialty catalyst supplier targeting PEM/AEM electrochemical applications.

Broad incumbents

• De Nora: Italian multinational and world's largest supplier of activated electrodes and catalyst-coated membranes. Both an R&D partner and the dominant incumbent Calicat must win share within; owns ~25.85% of thyssenkrupp nucera.
• thyssenkrupp nucera: Major global electrolyzer manufacturer with a large installed base in chlor-alkali and PEM hydrogen. Represents a key downstream customer and a benchmark for Calicat's catalyst licensing economics.
• Nel ASA: Norwegian incumbent electrolyzer manufacturer with a broad PEM/AEM product portfolio. Comparable as a downstream OEM customer and competitor for Calicat's catalyst/component offerings.
• ITM Power: UK-listed PEM electrolyzer manufacturer with utility-scale deployments. Comparable as a downstream OEM evaluating non-iridium catalysts to reduce LCOH.
• Plug Power: US incumbent across the hydrogen value chain (electrolyzers, fuel cells, distribution). Provides a downstream target for Calicat's components and a benchmark for green hydrogen commercialization.

Emerging players

• Advent Technologies: Developer of high-temperature PEM fuel cell and electrolyzer membrane-electrode assemblies. Adjacent in advanced electrochemical materials and competes for similar OEM relationships.

Others

• Greenlight Innovation: Supplier of test equipment for fuel cells and electrolyzers. Adjacent peer relevant to Calicat's TMaaS testing infrastructure business and PEM test station capabilities.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/H2uTechnologies
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/h2utechnologies

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors11 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Calicat