Vertoro advances renewable oil platform to accelerate low-carbon fuels

Image: Vertoro

Vertoro, a renewable oil company, announced June 17 the first closing of its 17-million-euro (USD$19.47 million) Series B round—consisting of 10-million euros (USD$11.46 million) in newly contributed capital and 7-million euros (USD$8.02 million) in converted loan notes—with Climate Tech Partners, Invest-NL, Maersk as key investors and further contributions from Energietransitiefonds Rotterdam, Liof, Shift and Brightlands Venture Partners.

The round will primarily be used to continue progress in scaling Vertoro’s technology that converts plant-based waste into a flexible renewable oil used to produce low-carbon fuels and chemicals.

The technology supports energy-security objectives at a time of heightened geopolitical risk, enabling countries to convert local waste feedstocks into a domestic supply of renewable oil and reduce reliance on imported fossil fuels.

At the core of Vertoro’s approach is what the company said is “a fundamentally simpler process than conventional biofuel technologies.”

Operating at low pressure and temperature without catalysts, the system is designed to deliver structurally lower capex and operating costs, according to Vertoro.

Combined with a modular plant design, Vertoro said this positions the company as a potential cost leader in the emerging biobased fuels and chemicals market.

“Unlike many-point solutions, Vertoro’s product is inherently flexible,” the company stated. “It can be deployed across multiple end markets, supporting near-term revenue while enabling long-term scale.”

The initial focus is on higher-value chemical applications, where the product can be used as a sustainable feedstock for materials and industrial products such as thermoplastics.

From there, Vertoro said the same oil can be deployed as a drop-in fuel for maritime shipping, enabling immediate emissions reductions in one of the hardest-to-abate sectors.

In parallel, Vertoro said it is advancing pathways to upgrade this renewable oil into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), supporting the aviation industry’s long-term decarbonization goals.

Crucially, Vertoro’s product is compatible with existing refinery infrastructure, avoiding the need for entirely new supply chains and enabling faster, capital-efficient adoption.

The company said it is currently operating a demonstration plant to validate its technology at scale, producing material for testing and customer trials while continuing to improve efficiency and scalability.

With a robust portfolio of multiple patent families, Vertoro said it is now focused on preparing for commercial deployment through a licensing model and future large-scale facilities, with partners including Raízen, the world’s largest sugarcane ethanol producer.

“Vertoro is building a bridge between sustainable biomass and the global fuel system,” said Dirk den Ouden, incoming CEO of Vertoro. “By creating a renewable oil that can serve multiple industries, from chemicals to shipping to aviation, we can scale faster and deliver meaningful emissions reductions sooner.”

Beyond producing low-cost, low-carbon products, Vertoro said its technology also has the potential to strengthen energy security.

By converting locally available agricultural and forestry residues into usable oil, countries can reduce reliance on imported fossil resources, diversify their energy mix and build more resilient domestic supply chains.

This distributed production model enables regions to turn waste into a strategic resource, supporting both economic and environmental objectives.