Shell, British Airways Parent IAG Lead New Capital Raise for SAF Producer LanzaJet
Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) technology and production company LanzaJet announced that it has raised $47 million, including the first close of a new equity financing round and a UK grant, with proceeds aimed at expanding the commercial deployment of its technology to turn waste-based ethanol into low carbon jet fuel.
The new funding round, valuing LanzaJet (pre-money) at a $650 million enterprise value, is co-led by International Airlines Group (IAG) – the parent company of airlines including Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia, Vueling and LEVELand – and Shell. LanzaJet said that it is targeting $135 million for the equity round.
Launched in 2020 by carbon recycling technology company LanzaTech, Illinois-based LanzaJet has developed “Alcohol-to-Jet” technology enabling the creation of SAF and renewable diesel from waste-based and sustainable ethanol sources including feedstocks such as low-carbon sugarcane, energy crops, forest residuals, agricultural wastes, and organic waste.
LanzaJet announced in November 2025 that it fully operated and produced fuels at its LanzaJet Freedom Pines Fuels facility in Soperton, Georgia. The company has invested over $300 million to develop the facility, which has the capacity to produce up to 10 million gallons per year of fuel of SAF and renewable diesel, and already has offtake agreements in place for the next ten years.
The company also announced the introduction of a new tolling structure at the Freedom Pines facility, with an agreement to use a low carbon, waste-based ethanol produced domestically in the U.S., along with renewable natural gas from a regional plant, which the company said will provide a secured feedstock supply and guaranteed offtake of all production at the plant.
In addition to the equity financing, LanzaJet also announced that has been awarded a substantial grant from the UK Department for Transport’s Advanced Fuels Fund (AFF) to accelerate development of its Project Speedbird, a major SAF biorefinery in Teesside, United Kingdom.
In addition to IAG and Shell, investors participating in the equity financing included Groupe ADP, LanzaTech, and Mitsui. Each of the investors have made prior investments in the company.
Jimmy Samartzis, Chief Executive Officer of LanzaJet, said:
“The decision by our existing investors to lead this fundraising round reaffirms their conviction in our technology and sends a strong signal to the entire industry that LanzaJet is committed to unlocking new value for ethanol, creating opportunity for economic development, and defining the future of fuels for transportation.”
