Mitsubishi Chemical Group backs Licella — validating the technology at the core of ABGL's India programme

In July 2025, Diamond Edge Ventures (DEV) — the corporate venture arm of Mitsubishi Chemical Group, one of Japan's largest integrated chemical companies — made a strategic investment in Licella Holdings Ltd, the Australian developer of the proprietary Cat-HTR™ (Catalytic Hydrothermal Reactor) technology. Licella is the licensor of the technology that underpins ABGL's exclusive India sub-licence.

For ABGL, the significance goes beyond the capital. Mitsubishi Chemical Group operates across petrochemicals, performance materials, and specialty chemicals in more than 30 countries. When its dedicated venture arm identifies a biomass-conversion technology as a strategic priority, it reflects the kind of industrial-scale due diligence that no independent report can replicate.

Commercial-scale proof: Licella acquires Arbios

The same month — August 2025 — Licella acquired full ownership of Arbios Biotech, its Canadian joint-venture partner, taking 100% control of the Chuntoh Ghuna facility in Prince George, British Columbia. That plant holds a distinction that matters enormously to anyone evaluating hydrothermal liquefaction at scale: it is the world's first commercial-scale HTL facility converting biomass to low-carbon fuels.

The acquisition consolidates Licella's entire Cat-HTR™ platform — from core IP through to operating assets — under a single owner. For technology sceptics, the Arbios facility answers the question that pre-commercial technologies cannot: does it work at volume, continuously, in the real world? It does.

A global pipeline taking shape

The strategic picture extends beyond Australia. In April 2025, a Japanese consortium comprising Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, Japan Airlines, and Marubeni Corporation announced a pre-feasibility study for a commercial-scale facility in Japan to produce SAF, bio-naphtha, and renewable diesel from forestry residues — with Cat-HTR™ as the candidate technology. The participation of Japan Airlines and Marubeni signals that aviation and commodity trading capital is circling the same technology stack.

In Australia itself, Project Swift — Licella's proposed biorefinery in Queensland converting sugarcane residues to SAF — advanced through a feasibility study backed by an A$8 million grant from ARENA (Australian Renewable Energy Agency), then moved into engineering design phase. The Australian federal government's announcement of a $1.1 billion Cleaner Fuels Programme in September 2025 provided further downstream tailwind for SAF production economics nationally.

What this means for India — and for ABGL

ABGL holds the exclusive India sub-licence for Cat-HTR™ technology across all feedstocks and all fuel applications. India's biofuel blending mandate is in force; airline groups face regulatory targets; the country's agricultural sector generates hundreds of millions of tonnes of waste biomass annually that currently goes unmonetised — or is burned in the field.

The technology that converts that biomass to bio-crude is now backed by Mitsubishi Chemical Group, proven at commercial scale in Canada, advancing toward FID in Australia, and the subject of pre-feasibility work by a consortium including Japan Airlines. The market is no longer asking whether hydrothermal liquefaction works. It is asking who holds the licences, who has the feedstock relationships, and who has moved first in the markets where the regulatory tailwind is strongest.

ABGL is currently in advanced project development across multiple Indian states, progressing toward financial close on its first production facility. Investors interested in participating in the capital raise are invited to request a briefing.

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