September 16, 2025 – Antares Ventures, a leading deeptech specialist venture capital fund focused on the Asia Growth Market, today announced its participation in Montreal-based FeX Energy’s oversubscribed USD $3.5M (CAD $4.78M) seed round. A McGill University spin-out and flagship venture of Hard Climate, FeX will use the funding to deploy its first pilot project and expand its team in preparation for early growth.

Industrial heat accounts for nearly half of global energy consumption. Heavy industries in Asia such as steel, cement, glass, and petrochemicals remain dependent on coal and gas, making them among the hardest sectors to decarbonize. While electrification has made progress in power and mobility, the industrial sector still lacks scalable, affordable solutions at the high temperatures required.

Michael Gryseels, Founder and Managing Partner of Antares Ventures, said “Industrial heat is one of the hardest points in Asia’s energy transition. FeX Energy offers a distinctive solution to leverage renewable energy to generate high-quality temperature at a scale and cost that heavy industry requires.”

FeX Energy is developing a proprietary iron-based thermochemical storage system designed for precisely this challenge. The technology leverages iron’s natural oxidation-reduction cycle to store and release heat. Pure iron is oxidized in a controlled process that generates temperatures of 800–900°C, delivering industrial-grade heat on demand. The technology offering unparalleled energy density, ease of deployment, and storage stability without self-discharge.

By converting surplus renewable electricity into stored thermal energy, FeX offers a path to replace fossil fuels with a clean, energy-dense medium that is abundant, low-cost, and globally available. For industries where fuel costs and emissions are both acute, the economics align with the urgency of transition by electrifying heat, unlocking renewable penetration, and enabling Asia’s industrial transition.

Hayden Smith, CEO of FeX Energy, said the funding marks a step toward the company’s mission, “Our mission at FeX is to empower industry decarbonization with iron energy – affordable, safe, and globally abundant. With this seed funding, and the strong alignment of our new investors, we are well positioned to demonstrate how our solution can replace high-cost fossil fuels in even the most remote and challenging locations, while laying the foundation for scalable growth across global energy systems.”

FeX investment also underscore Antares mission to catalyse global innovation into Asia Growth Market, Michael added, “Our global mandate has consistently led us to Canadian ventures grounded in strong science, and we see FeX as well positioned for expansion into Asia’s growth markets where these challenges are most acute.”

With this investment, FeX Energy will focus on executing its first pilot project and expanding its consortium of industry partners. Alongside Antares, this round is led by Fathom Fund, a Houston-based deep-tech venture capital firm with strong ties to the global energy industry, and Amplify Capital, the anchor Canadian institutional investor. Together, these institutional investors bring deep sector expertise, climate focus, and capital to support FeX’s growth and engagement with major emitters.

***

About Antares Ventures
Antares Ventures is a specialist deep-tech venture capital fund with a mission to catalyze the scaling of world-class innovation across Asia Growth Markets (SEA, India, and the Middle East). We invest globally in early-growth-stage startups (around Series A) developing transformative technologies across our key thematics of energy transition & industrial decarbonization, resilient cities & transportation, sustainable agriculture, and advanced computing. Through our proprietary Asia Acceleration Model and backing of leading regional groups, we bridge world-class innovation and Asia growth opportunities, positioning us as the ideal partner for ambitious founders ready to transform critical industries in Asia. 

For more information, visit www.antares.ventures and our LinkedIn. 

About FeX Energy
FeX Energy is a Canadian cleantech company developing iron-based long-duration energy storage to displace fossil fuels with affordable and scalable clean energy. Founded out of McGill University’s Alternative Fuels Lab under Professor Jeffrey Bergthorson, FeX Energy is the flagship venture of Hard Climate. The company’s values – impact, care, and trust – guide its mission to empower industry and communities with iron energy.

Visit FeX’s website and full announcement here.