Jet Zero raises $30 million with Qantas, Airbus and Posco

Jet Zero Australia has raised $30 million to carry its Townsville sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel project through front-end engineering design and toward a final investment decision, ESG Today reports. Qantas and Airbus, which first backed the company in 2023, return in the round, and South Korea's Posco International joins as a new strategic investor.

The company, founded by Ed Mason in North Queensland in 2021, will spend most of the proceeds on completing front-end engineering design for Project Ulysses, with the round following the final Development Permit Decision Notice from the Queensland Office of the Coordinator-General that Jet Zero says completes its principal development approvals. Jet Zero expects the Townsville plant to create roughly 1,000 construction jobs and 100 permanent operational roles, and it argues a broader Australian biofuels industry could support more than 18,000 jobs by 2040 across feedstock production, agriculture, refining and logistics.

Posco's entry deserves more attention than the dollar figure, because the South Korean trading and energy company is exploring fuel offtake, infrastructure and feedstock arrangements with Jet Zero, subject to further agreement. That leaves the cap table populated by an airline, an aircraft manufacturer and a trading company, none of them a typical financial sponsor and each with a commercial reason to see the refinery built.

Ed Mason, Jet Zero's chief executive, called the round and the development permit decision defining milestones for Project Ulysses. “Some organisations will buy low carbon liquid fuels. Others will invest in building the industry. We are fortunate to be backed by organisations committed to doing both,” Mason said. Qantas Group Chief Sustainability Officer Fiona Messent said establishing domestic SAF production would support fuel security, create jobs and help aviation and Australia meet decarbonisation objectives.

The commercial terms with Posco are not yet final, which is precisely why the financing structure matters: Qantas, Airbus and Posco are underwriting engineering-stage risk before a full supply-chain agreement exists, the project-equity version of transition finance that usually gets measured in bond volumes or fund closes. The next milestone for Project Ulysses is a final investment decision; if it arrives, the financing will be remembered less for the $30 million than for the strategic investors whose own businesses depend on the plant running.