iL-CURRENT
October 16, 2024
Pit Podleschny: "Innovative solutions for green hydrogen"
The start-up Hydrogenea from Gelsenkirchen has been around since January 2024. Its co-founder and CEO is Dr. Pit Podleschny (34). Hydrogenea sees itself as an innovation driver and partner in the energy transition - with the main aim of driving forward the development of sustainable technology solutions for a green hydrogen economy.
At the Clean Tech Innovation Day on November 11 (9 am to 6 pm, Heidelberg Congress Center), Pit Podleschny will be one of the speakers in the session on "Start-ups as accelerators for innovation in the clean tech sector". Just under four weeks before the highlight, we at iL conducted an in-depth interview with the expert for electrolysers and fuel cells.
Mr. Podleschny, please explain us us, to what extent Hydrogenea essential to contributes, to the turn towards to the green hydrogen successfully to successfully?
Pit Podleschny: Green hydrogen has the potential to play a key role in the sustainable energy future, but challenges such as low efficiency, high costs and limited component longevity remain. At Hydrogenea, we have specialized in overcoming these hurdles.
We increase the efficiency of fuel and electrolysis cells through two innovations. Firstly, we use novel, corrosion-resistant catalyst carriers with high electrical conductivity, which can increase the durability of the cells by up to ten times. Secondly, we have developed a patented electrochemical approach for applying the active material, which enables a continuous roll-to-roll process. This increases flexibility in the customization of the cells and can increase efficiency by up to 20 percent.
With these advances, we are making a decisive contribution to the successful transition to green hydrogen and a sustainable future.
Dr. Pit Podleschny, CEO and co-founder of Hydrogenea: "We are making a decisive contribution to the successful transition to green hydrogen and a sustainable future." Picture: Handelsblatt/Hydrogenea
How came it to the foundation your start-upups - from which environment comes from Hydrogenea?
Podleschny: The founding of Hydrogenea is based on the promotion of our CEO Pit (laughs) and his experience in the automotive industry, particularly in the series production of fuel cells. Our founding team consists of four core members and dedicated students. I am responsible for customer relations and fundraising, while Swen, our CTO, leads the technical development with his background in electrochemistry. Marvin, our CBO, takes care of customer acquisition and cost structure, and Marlene, our COO, brings her knowledge of technical chemistry to laboratory work and public relations.
Supported by talented students like Benedict, a trained electronics engineer, we work together on innovative solutions for the challenges in the field of green hydrogen.
And what does the cooperation and the networking with the H2UB out?
Podleschny: The collaboration and networking with H2UB provide an excellent opportunity to receive valuable feedback and further develop our business model. The constructive suggestions have helped us to refine our strategy. H2UB also gives us access to a broad network of industry experts, which creates new and exciting opportunities. The support and resources we receive from H2UB are crucial to our growth and strengthen our vision of a sustainable future. Overall, working with H2UB is a great way for start-ups to gain a competitive edge and make meaningful connections in the industry.
Which horizon of expectation is for hydrogenea with the Clean Tech Innovation Day linked?
Podleschny: Valuable exchange with exciting personalities on the most important climate-related topics of our time.
How will change your startup the participants and participants of the symposium present?
Podleschny: The team's aim is to encourage other companies to take innovative steps and bring impetus to the market, which is urgently needed for green hydrogen technology to succeed.
The search for further pilot customers
Has Hydrogenea a special focus on partners, topics and technologies from the H2-ecosystem?
Podleschny: We are currently looking for further pilot customers with whom we can realize exciting projects and demonstrate how Hydrogenea's technology can contribute to the success of the energy transition.
iL is a technologytransferplatform. Functional printing or rolltoroll-to-rollcoatings for instance belong at the location Heidelberg to the portfolio. Are there from from your perspective points of contact to iL and its partners BASF, HEIDELBERG, KIT and FLEXOO?
Podleschny: Absolutely. Hydrogenea cooperates with partners from industry and research in order to develop the best solution for the various applications and then place it on the market.
To conclusion the look into the the future: How will the world for green hydrogen and hydrogenea presumably in five years look like?
Podleschny: In five years, Hydrogenea will have established itself as an agile and reliable supplier for the hydrogen industry and will have made green hydrogen technology per se more attractive and therefore more competitive than fossil solutions.
Mr. Podleschny, many thanks for this interview.
They want to drive forward the clean energy revolution: The Hydrogenea team with Pit Podleschny (right, front), who is taking on the role of speaker in the start-up session at the Clean Tech Innovation Day in Heidelberg. Picture: Harald Reusmann
About the person
Pit Podleschny (34) is married and the proud father of a three-and-a-half-year-old daughter. The family also includes two dogs. Pit met his wife in Spain while he was writing his bachelor's thesis at an automotive supplier as part of his mechanical engineering studies. This work led to a valuable contact with whom Hydrogenea still works closely today.
After returning to Bochum, he completed his Master's thesis at the Ruhr University in cooperation with the Westphalian University of Applied Sciences. He built fuel cells with highly stable carbons on the oxygen side at the Westphalian Energy Institute. Pit Podleschny then completed his doctorate in the field of fuel cells in technical chemistry and carried out the benchmark on a series-produced fuel cell car. Since then, he has devoted himself entirely to hydrogenea.
About Hydrogenea
Founded in January 2024 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Hydrogenea develops and produces membrane electrode assemblies (MEA) for fuel cells and electrolyzers. Innovations in the material of the catalyst layer and in the process enable a significantly longer service life and more cost-efficient operation of the system.
Backed by over ten years of research and a team with deep scientific and industrial expertise, Hydrogenea GmbH is committed to driving the clean energy revolution by developing innovative MEAs that offer the highest durability and increase the efficiency of the next generation of electrolyzers and fuel cells.
Further information on Hydrogenea can be found at: www.hydrogenea.de
Contact: Dr. Pit Yannick Podleschny, Co-Founder and CEO of Hydrogenea GmbH, e-mail: info@hydrogenea.de
Information on the "Clean Tech Innovation Day"
Note: Further information on the procedure and registration can be found on our website at
Registration ends on October 30, just two weeks before the Clean Tech Innovation Day (November 11). Catering will be provided on St. Martin's Day at the Heidelberg Congress Center near the train station.
Joachim Klaehn
Head of Communications
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