Qantas, Airbus back $2M raise for Wildfire's waste-to-fuel tech
What's the deal? Brisbane startup Wildfire EnergyDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has raised A$2 million in an early-stage round from QantasDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Airbus, and Climate Tech PartnersDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → to scale its waste-to-fuels technology. The raise, via Climate Tech Partners' aviation sidecar fund, was topped up by A$3.15 million in grant funding from the Australian Renewable Energy AgencyDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → (ARENA).
What's the endgame? Founded in 2016 and bootstrapped until 2022, Wildfire has developed patented modular technology — Moving Injection Horizontal Gasification (MIHG) — that converts unprocessed waste, including household rubbish, into synthesis gas. That gas generates power, heat, and low-carbon fuels including methanol and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
Where's the money going? Wildfire will use the raise to upgrade an eight-year-old pilot plant near Brisbane to commercial scale. The ARENA grant funds a pilot integrating MIHG with methanol synthesis, plus a feasibility study for a Queensland facility that would convert waste into SAF.
Why now? Cofounder and CEO Greg Perkins said recent global events exposed the risk of relying on fuel imports. "For the aviation sector our solution delivers a sovereign fuel supply and helps airlines meet mandates for sustainable aviation fuel which are coming into effect now," he said. "We have the technological solution, the efficient cost curve. Now we need to scale."
What's the appeal? The company sees its technology as a way for Australian councils to avoid landfill constraints and emissions, with hopes for deployments across regional Australia. It also plans to expand globally through a capital-light licensing model.
Why it matters to backers: Airbus's Stephen Forshaw said scaling SAF requires managing cost and feedstock. "For Australia, where foodstuffs and 'red bins' are as disparate as our population, the fact that Wildfire's solution can be deployed locally and at scale holds significant advantages," he said.
The signal: The cheque is small, but it is another proof point that early-stage SAF technologies using non-traditional feedstocks are drawing strategic capital. Qantas and Airbus, which have built a US$200 million SAF partnership and a wider A$400 million Climate Fund, are moving beyond importing SAF toward a diversified pipeline of domestic producers — support for Qantas's goal of sourcing at least 10% of its fuel as SAF by 2030.
Read more: Startup Daily
Image credit: USDAgov
