New Castle, DE — Ardent, a leader in advanced membrane solutions for industrial separations, has raised the first close of its Series B co-led by Pangaea Ventures and Xplor Ventures, with participation from Syensqo Ventures and Chevron Technology Ventures.
The round marks a major step in scaling Ardent’s Optiperm™ platform, transforming proven pilot results into commercial products that deliver measurable gains in efficiency, cost, and emissions performance across the chemical and energy industries.
The company's first commercial-scale olefins-separation project demonstrates positive economics under real operating conditions, confirming that advanced membranes can deliver efficiency and cost improvements within the separation process.
From Validation to Deployment
Following successful validation across multiple industrial environments in both carbon capture and olefins separations, Ardent is expanding early commercial delivery of Optiperm Olefins, a membrane system designed to improve margins and reduce emissions in olefin–paraffin separations. The company has accumulated more than 10,000 operating hours on Optiperm Olefins to date.
Ardent is also advancing Optiperm™ Carbon toward its next large-scale demonstration, building on more than 8000 operating hours across carbon capture pilots in kilns, steel, and boilers.
“This round turns proven R&D into commercial reality,” said Erica Nemser, Chief Executive Officer of Ardent. “For years, industrial membranes were considered promising but unproven at scale. Now we’re showing they can strengthen both margins and sustainability and that changes the conversation.”
Investor Confidence in Scalable Impact
Investors in the round highlighted Ardent’s disciplined progress from research to real-world performance and the scalability of its modular platform.
“Since we first invested in 2023, Ardent’s team has shown that advanced materials can solve real industrial problems,” said Chris Erickson, Partner at Pangaea Ventures. “They’ve built a technically sound and commercially ready platform with true transformation potential, the kind of step-change we look for in every investment.”
“Ardent’s progress demonstrates meaningful advances in bringing emerging low-carbon technologies closer to real-world application, consistent with our strategy to identify technologies that may support long-term decarbonization efforts," said Thana Slanvetpan, Head of Corporate Venture Capital at Xplor Ventures. “We see promising opportunities in their Optiperm platform, which has the potential to contribute to future low carbon pathways as it continues to progress toward commercial readiness. This is exactly the kind of impact we aim to accelerate.”
Scaling a Proven Platform
The Optiperm platform builds on Ardent’s membrane expertise, introducing modular designs that replace energy-intensive separations and reduce cost, footprint, and emissions. The company is now expanding manufacturing capacity, customer partnerships, and field-scale deployments across sectors.
About the Investors
Pangaea Ventures
For more than 25 years, Pangaea Ventures has been at the forefront of hardtech innovation, backing companies that are reshaping industries and addressing some of the planet’s biggest challenges. The firm invests in breakthrough innovations that deliver transformative solutions for planetary health and meaningful returns for investors.
Xplor Ventures
Xplor Ventures is the Corporate Venture Capital arm of PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited or PTTEP, a member of PTT Group. The investment arm invests in technologies that accelerate decarbonization and shaping the future of the energy sector. Headquartered in Thailand, Xplor Ventures partners with innovators driving the transition to sustainable, low-carbon energy systems, providing strategic capital and industry expertise to scale impactful solutions across Southeast Asia and globally.
About Ardent
Ardent pioneers advanced membrane solutions that make industrial separations scalable, efficient, and economically viable. The company’s Optiperm™ platform includes technologies for olefin-paraffin separation, carbon capture, and other applications that lower emissions and improve efficiency across chemicals, refining, and materials production.
Headquartered in New Castle, Delaware, Ardent partners with global industrial leaders to accelerate the transition to cleaner, more efficient manufacturing.
Media Contact
Laura Miller lmiller@ardenttechnologies.com
.jpg)
