According to La Tribune, three former employees of Universal Hydrogen have launched a start-up called Hydvance, offering solutions to decarbonise heavy mobility.

The article reveals that the company’s founders, Thomas Andrieu (CEO), Stéphane Valadon, and Daniel Costa Blanes, all previously worked at Airbus before joining Universal Hydrogen. At Universal Hydrogen, they held roles focused on aircraft architecture, liquid hydrogen storage, and hydrogen systems. Thomas Andrieu, who contributed to the European aircraft manufacturer’s ZEROe H2 project, told La Tribune that Universal Hydrogen had successfully brought the technology to maturity before its bankruptcy. The company had managed to fill a tank with liquid hydrogen, heat the fuel to the required temperature, and use it to power a fuel cell, which in turn drove one of the aircraft’s propellers.

According to the publication, Hydvance aims to develop storage systems capable of handling several dozen to a few hundred kilograms of liquid hydrogen. While aviation remains a key focus, the start-up is also targeting heavy mobility applications, such as buses, lorries, and boats. Hydvance offers expertise in safety audits, delivery services, simulation, testing, and material selection to support these developments.

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