Vema Hydrogen, a North Carolina startup, has secured $13 million in funding to advance the development of simulated geologic hydrogen (SGH) operations. The company plans to use the funds to establish North America's first full-scale SGH pilot wells, where water and a catalyst will be injected into iron rock to replicate the natural formation of hydrogen. Vema claims that their innovative process consumes less than 3 kWh per kg of hydrogen, with a target production cost of below $1/kg. The funding round was co-led by Extantia Capital, with support from Propeller Ventures, Zero Carbon Capital, Pace Ventures, and existing investor Grantham Foundation. The investors are optimistic about Vema's approach, seeing it as a novel and cost-effective solution for producing clean hydrogen. Extantia Capital highlighted the potential of Vema's technology to drive decarbonization in hard-to-abate sectors and transform hydrogen from an energy vector to an energy source. The company's process optimizes naturally occurring reactions, resulting in high-purity hydrogen with a low levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH). This makes Vema's approach a promising alternative to current green and natural hydrogen sources, offering scalability and cost-effectiveness. The article also discusses the rise of natural hydrogen exploration globally, with increasing interest from investors, entrepreneurs, and policymakers. Natural hydrogen, formed underground through processes like serpentinization and iron oxidation, is seen as a low-cost, low-impact energy source that could revolutionize the energy industry. Several countries, including Australia, US, Spain, France, Albania, Colombia, South Korea, and Canada, are actively exploring natural hydrogen deposits, anticipating costs around $1/kg depending on purity and depth. The article concludes by presenting natural hydrogen as a potential breakthrough in decarbonization efforts, attracting significant attention and investment worldwide.