OXCCU wins sustainability award for breakthrough SAF technology

Oxford-based clean technology startup OXCCU has been named the winner of the 2026 Startups 100 Sustainability Award, recognising its pioneering work in producing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from waste carbon.
The award celebrates businesses demonstrating exceptional innovation and impact in sustainability. OXCCU also secured fourth place in the 2026 Startups 100 Index, powered by Sage, the UK’s longest-running index of high-potential new businesses.
Founded in 2021 by Andrew Symes, Dr Jane Jin, Dr Tiancun Xiao, Dr Benzhen Yao and Professor Peter Edwards, OXCCU is addressing one of the aviation industry’s greatest challenges: how to decarbonise a sector heavily reliant on fossil fuels. The company’s world-leading technology converts captured carbon dioxide and green hydrogen into jet-fuel-range hydrocarbons in a single step, offering a lower-cost and lower-emission route to SAF production.
OXCCU’s patented iron catalyst enables CO₂ and CO to be converted directly into liquid hydrocarbons, eliminating intermediate processes and minimising by-products. This results in lower capital and operating costs, making SAF more commercially competitive.
The company’s OX1 demonstration facility at London Oxford Airport has already achieved more than 1,000 operating hours, delivering high conversion rates and strong selectivity for aviation fuel. Building on this success, OXCCU secured £20.75 million in Series B funding last September to accelerate the scale-up of its sustainable fuels and technologies and to begin construction of its second demonstration plant, OX2.
Looking ahead, OXCCU aims to produce 10,000 tonnes of SAF annually before 2030, while also exploring applications in chemicals and plastics, extending the impact of its technology beyond aviation.
Andrew Symes, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of OXCCU, said: “Our focus now is on proving the technology at a larger scale and creating a pathway that can make a meaningful difference to future aviation fuel production.”
From laboratory innovation to commercial demonstration, OXCCU is redefining waste carbon as a valuable resource for a more sustainable future in aviation and beyond.