LanzaJet secures new equity investment to support growth and ATJ technology deployment

Next generation aviation fuels producer LanzaJet has announced the first close of an overall $135 million target equity investment round at a pre-money enterprise valuation of $650 million. The round is co-led by IAG and Shell, with participation from Groupe ADP, LanzaTech and Mitsui, who are all existing shareholders and expanding their investment in LanzaJet’s growth and operations at the producer’s Freedom Pines Fuels alcohol-to-jet facility in Georgia, USA. Together with a grant from the UK Department for Transport’s Advanced Fuels Fund to accelerate development of its Project Speedbird SAF biorefinery in northeast England, LanzaJet has raised a total of $47 million in new capital. As part of this funding round, LanzaJet is entering into a multi-year tolling structure at Freedom Pines that will provide a secure feedstock supply and guaranteed offtake of production, says the company.

“We’re at a pivotal moment at LanzaJet,” commented Jimmy Samartzis, LanzaJet’s CEO, on the new investment. “At the end of 2025, we announced that we fully operated and produced ASTM on-spec fuels at LanzaJet Freedom Pines Fuels – marking both the world’s first production of jet fuel using ethanol as a feedstock at a commercial-scale plant and the first non-oil-based scalable renewable solution compatible with today’s aircraft.

“The decision by our existing investors to lead this fundraising round reaffirms their conviction in our technology and sends a strong signal to the entire industry that LanzaJet is committed to unlocking new value for ethanol, creating opportunity for economic development and defining the future of fuels for transportation.”

The company reported that in conjunction with this round, it had optimised its ownership and governance structure “to enable effective and efficient decision-making, support its growth and position the company to attract future investors.”

It has also entered into multi-year tolling agreements under which LanzaJet will use a low-carbon, waste-based ethanol produced domestically in the US, along with renewable natural gas from a regional plant, to produce low-carbon SAF and renewable diesel fuel.

“The introduction of a new tolling paradigm for our plant in Georgia is intended to be an example for the industry as a way to de-risk projects and attract lower cost capital. It also marks a transition for us to a US-produced waste-based ethanol as we create a differentiated SAF in the market,” said Samartzis in a LinkedIn post.

Photo: LanzaJet’s Freedom Pines Fuels facility

Christopher Surgenor
Editor