Licella
Licella Holdings Ltd licenses its proprietary Cat-HTR hydrothermal liquefaction technology to enterprise partners, converting biomass waste and end-of-life plastics into bio-oil for SAF, renewable diesel, marine biofuels, and biochemicals across Australia, Canada, the UK, and Japan.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2007
- HeadquartersSydney, Australia
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Licella does
Licella Holdings Ltd, founded in 2007 and headquartered in North Sydney, Australia, is a privately held biotechnology company that develops and commercializes catalytic hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) technology under the brand name Cat-HTR. Its proprietary platform uses water under elevated temperature and pressure, in combination with catalysis, to convert abundant, low-cost waste feedstocks — including biomass residues and end-of-life plastics — into a bio-intermediate oil that can be refined into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), renewable diesel, bio-naphtha, marine biofuels, biochemicals, and recycled materials. The company positions Cat-HTR as the world's leading HTL technology and operates it across three solution areas: biofuels & biochemicals, advanced recycling, and modular commercial deployment.
Licella monetizes Cat-HTR primarily through a B2B technology licensing and strategic partnership model. Revenue mechanics span licensing fees, technology deployment agreements, joint development agreements, and ongoing technical support to enterprise partners across aviation, maritime, heavy transport, packaging, and chemicals. The company pursues a mix of owned-and-led projects (such as Project Swift in Queensland, the Altona advanced recycling project in Victoria, and the wholly owned Arbios Biotech HTL facility in Prince George, Canada) alongside co-development partnerships with Shell Catalysts & Technologies, Mitsubishi Chemical Group (via Diamond Edge Ventures), Quadrise, Amcor, a Japan Airlines-led Japanese consortium, and Mura Technology. Engineering partners such as Technip Energies are engaged for FEED and scale-up activities.
Strategically, Licella is in a pre-commercial to early-commercial scaling phase. Its near-term growth is catalyzed by A$16 million in ARENA grant funding across 2025, strategic capital from Mitsubishi Chemical Group's CVC, full ownership of Arbios Biotech acquired in August 2025, and supportive Australian federal policy (the A$1.1 billion Cleaner Fuels Program). With 11-50 employees and revenue not publicly disclosed, the company remains a venture- and grant-backed scaling platform whose financial trajectory is tied to converting feasibility-stage partnerships into operational biorefineries across Australia, Canada, the UK, and Japan.
Licella firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Licella
- Legal name
- Licella Holdings Ltd
- Website
- https://licella.com.au
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2007
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Licella Holdings Ltd licenses its proprietary Cat-HTR hydrothermal liquefaction technology to enterprise partners, converting biomass waste and end-of-life plastics into bio-oil for SAF, renewable diesel, marine biofuels, and biochemicals across Australia, Canada, the UK, and Japan.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Licella industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Hydrothermal Liquefaction Technology
- NAICS
- Chemical Manufacturing (325)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Cellulosic Biofuels & Renewable Fuels (2G ethanol, SAF intermediates) (IMAMALAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Bio-based Platform & Commodity Chemicals (e.g., bio-ethylene, bio-propylene, bio-BTX, bio-methanol) (EUAAAIAA), Biochemicals & Bio-based Platform Chemicals (cellulose sugars, lignin derivatives, organic acids) (IMAMALAB), Biomass & Waste-to-Energy Plant EPC (EUAEAAAI), Biofuel Co-products & Byproduct Processing (DDGS, Glycerin, CO2, Lignin) (EUAAAHAJ)
Keywords
Where Licella is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Sydney
- HQ country
- Australia
- HQ region
- Oceania
Offices1 record
Markets served
Licella business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations
Revenue model
- Technology Licensing: Licella licenses its proprietary Cat-HTR technology to partners globally for deployment in commercial biorefineries and advanced recycling facilities. Revenue is generated through licensing fees, technology deployment agreements, and ongoing technical support.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels5 records
Licella product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Licella develops and commercializes the proprietary Cat-HTR™ catalytic hydrothermal liquefaction platform, licensing it for industrial deployment and project development. The process uses water-mediated conversion to transform biomass waste and end-of-life plastics into bio-oil, advanced biofuels, biochemicals, biomaterials, and recycled hydrocarbon products.
Product overview
Licella operates as a technology company offering the Cat-HTR™ platform as its core technology for hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL). The platform transforms abundant waste feedstocks into three main product streams: bio-oil (the primary bio-intermediate), advanced biofuels (including sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel for marine/transport), and biochemicals/biomaterials. Licella commercializes its technology through owned projects (Project Swift in Queensland, Altona Project in Victoria, Arbios facility in Canada) and licensing/partnership arrangements with industry leaders including Shell, Mitsubishi Chemical Group, Mura Technology, and Amcor.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Cat-HTR: World's leading hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) technology platform that enables sustainable transformation of abundant waste feedstocks to advanced biofuels, biochemicals and recycled materials.
- Project Swift
Products and services
- Cat-HTR™ Platform Licella's catalytic hydrothermal liquefaction process technology is licensed and deployed with industrial partners to transform biomass waste and end-of-life plastics into a bio-intermediate for advanced fuels, chemicals, and recycled materials.
- Cat-HTR Bio-oil Bio-intermediate A renewable oil produced from biomass waste through hydrothermal liquefaction, serving as a fossil-oil replacement intermediate for biomaterials, biochemicals, and advanced biofuels.
- Advanced Plastic Recycling Solution Licella's process solution for packaging companies, recyclers, and resource-recovery operators converts end-of-life plastics into liquid and gaseous hydrocarbon products and recycled materials using Cat-HTR technology.
Quantifiable outcome
- SAF could meet up to 65% of aviation's fuel demand by 2050
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Licella
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Licella technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature1 record
Licella partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and secondary.
- Australian Federal GovernmentcoreAustralian government announced $1.1 billion Cleaner Fuels Program to boost domestic production of low carbon liquid fuels including SAF and renewable diesel. Licella welcomed this investment recognizing critical role of LCLF in decarbonization.
- Arbios BiotechcoreLicella acquired Canfor's 50% interest in Arbios Biotech, making Arbios a wholly owned subsidiary of Licella. This strategic transition unified Licella's Cat-HTR platform under a single global strategy for advanced biofuels. Arbios operates the world's largest HTL facility in Prince George, Canada.
- Technip EnergiessecondaryLeading technology and engineering company engaged for Project Swift Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) phase in regional Queensland.
- Japan Airlines / Marubeni / Mitsubishi Chemical / Chugoku Lumber / Boeing Japan / Obayashi ConsortiumsecondaryJapanese consortium concluded a MOU on preliminary business feasibility study for manufacture and sale of SAF, bio-naphtha, and renewable diesel from domestic forest residues, potentially using Licella's Cat-HTR technology.
- QuadrisecoreLicella and Quadrise signed a Joint Development Agreement to explore Licella's Cat-HTR bio-intermediate as a potential cost-effective renewable feedstock for Quadrise's bioMSAR and bioMSAR Zero technologies, focused on the low sulfur marine biofuel market. The agreement was amended in August 2026 with an updated testing schedule including laboratory work in late 2026 and marine diesel-engine pilot tests.
- AmcorsecondaryLicella signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Amcor Australia & New Zealand towards investment in Licella's first Australian facility for advanced plastic recycling, supporting Amcor's responsible packaging solutions.
- Shell Catalysts & TechnologiescoreCollaboration with Shell to develop a global, low-carbon, biomass-to-biofuels commercial solution with strong focus on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The partnership is developing a new, economically attractive pathway to produce SAF through an integrated biomass-to-advanced biofuels commercial solution.
- Mura TechnologysecondaryLicella congratulated Mura Technology as their first commercial facility entered commissioning phase in the UK, representing deployment of advanced plastic recycling technology.
- Advanced Recycling Victoria (ARV)secondaryARV established a plastic resource recovery plant in Altona, Victoria, using Licella's Cat-HTR technology to convert end-of-life plastics into liquid and gaseous hydrocarbon products. Environmental Protection Agency Victoria (EPA) approved the Development Licence.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights7 records
Licella competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Enerkem: Canadian waste-to-biofuels company that converts municipal solid waste and biomass into methanol and ethanol using a thermochemical platform. Comparable to Licella in feedstock-flexible waste-to-fuels approach and in operating commercial-scale demonstration facilities.
- SunFire: German power-to-liquids company producing e-fuels (e-SAF, e-diesel) from green hydrogen and CO2. Comparable to Licella in developing commercial-scale low-carbon fuel capacity for hard-to-abate sectors using proprietary process technology.
- Carbios: French enzymatic plastic recycling company producing monomers from PET waste. Comparable to Licella's advanced recycling business line (Altona, Amcor partnership) in targeting circular economy solutions for end-of-life plastics and partnerships with packaging majors.
- Mura Technology: UK-based advanced plastic recycling company deploying hydrothermal-like conversion of end-of-life plastics into feedstocks. Licella explicitly highlights Mura's first commercial facility (UK commissioning) as part of the broader advanced recycling ecosystem, and both target the same plastic-to-feedstock value chain with similar customer types.
- HIF Global: Chilean e-fuels company producing carbon-neutral gasoline, SAF, and diesel from green hydrogen and captured CO2. Comparable to Licella in pursuing large-scale project development (multiple geographies) and securing offtake for synthetic low-carbon fuels targeting aviation.
- Velocys: Small-scale gas-to-liquids technology company focused on converting biomass and waste gases into SAF and renewable diesel. Comparable modular Fischer-Tropsch platform targeting the same hard-to-abate aviation and heavy transport end markets as Cat-HTR.
- LanzaTech: US carbon capture company using gas fermentation to convert industrial off-gases into ethanol that is upgraded to SAF and renewable diesel. Directly comparable in targeting the same aviation/marine SAF offtake market as Licella via an adjacent advanced-biofuels pathway.
Broad incumbents
- Neste: Finnish global leader in renewable diesel and SAF production from waste and residues. Comparable to Licella as the dominant incumbent in renewable fuels whose offtake/licensing decisions affect the addressable market and competitive dynamics for emerging players like Licella.
- Topsoe: Danish catalysis and process technology licensor with proprietary hydroprocessing and SAF pathways (e.g., HydroFlex, MOSAIK). Comparable to Licella as an established technology licensor operating in the same renewable fuels and circular chemicals space, with broader portfolio across hydrogen and refining.
Emerging players
- Bloom Biorenewables: Swiss biomass-to-chemicals startup converting lignocellulosic biomass into furan-based biochemicals. Comparable to Licella's biochemicals/biomaterials vertical, focusing on the biomass-to-platform-chemicals opportunity with novel catalytic technology.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Licella social profiles
Digital presenceLicella financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Licella leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Licella subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries2 records
Licella funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Licella M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Licella
What does Licella do?
Licella develops and commercializes the proprietary Cat-HTR™ catalytic hydrothermal liquefaction platform, licensing it for industrial deployment and project development. The process uses water-mediated conversion to transform biomass waste and end-of-life plastics into bio-oil, advanced biofuels, biochemicals, biomaterials, and recycled hydrocarbon products.
Is Licella a public or private company?
Licella is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Licella founded?
Licella was founded in 2007. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Licella based?
Licella is headquartered in Sydney, Australia, in the Oceania region.
How does Licella make money?
One revenue line is on record: technology Licensing.
Who are Licella's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Enerkem, SunFire, Carbios, Mura Technology, HIF Global, Velocys and LanzaTech. Broad incumbents are Neste and Topsoe. Bloom Biorenewables is listed as an emerging player.
Does Licella have an API?
No public API is recorded for Licella.
What industry is Licella in?
Licella's product category is Hydrothermal Liquefaction Technology. Its primary akta.pro industry code is IMAMALAA, Cellulosic Biofuels & Renewable Fuels (2G ethanol, SAF intermediates), with a secondary code of EUAAAIAA, Bio-based Platform & Commodity Chemicals (e.g., bio-ethylene, bio-propylene, bio-BTX, bio-methanol). Its NAICS code is 325.