Kobe Steel joins Malta's global investor base as the companies form a capital and business alliance to advance industrial heat pump technology that lowers industrial energy costs, reinforces process reliability, and reduces emissions.
September 14, 2026 – Cambridge, Massachusetts – Malta Inc. (“Malta”), a cleantech company developing advanced thermodynamic technology, today announced a capital and business alliance agreement with Kobe Steel, Ltd. (“Kobe Steel,” also known as the Kobelco Group), a diversified Japanese materials, machinery, and engineering company. As part of the agreement, Kobe Steel has made a strategic investment in Malta and joins the company’s group of world-class investors.
The alliance brings together Malta’s proprietary ultra high temperature heat pump technology with Kobe Steel’s decades of experience in compression solutions. The companies intend to combine their technologies, expertise, and know-how to accelerate the development, commercialization, and widespread adoption of Malta’s solutions for industrial energy cost reduction, process reliability, and decarbonization, as well as waste heat recovery and energy storage.
“We are thrilled to welcome Kobe Steel as both an investor and strategic partner,” said Philippe Delleville, President and CEO of Malta Inc. “Kobe Steel’s long-established leadership in steam compression technology is highly complementary to our steam management platform, and this alliance will help us accelerate the commercialization of our heat pump technology for industry energy cost reduction and decarbonization, as well as its implementation in grid-scale energy storage. Our commitment to industrial customers is concrete: a lower utility bill and more reliable process heat. That is what keeps industry competitive and resilient — and it makes decarbonization the result of better economics rather than a trade-off.”
“Malta’s high-temperature heat pump technology, makes it possible to put industrial waste heat to efficient use, supporting better energy efficiency, more resilient operations, and lower CO₂ emissions,” said Yoichi Kageki, Executive Officer, Compressor Unit, Kobe Steel Ltd.
Through this partnership, the companies will accelerate their contribution to the advancement of energy solutions, spanning high-temperature heat utilization, waste heat recovery, and heat pump technology for energy cost reduction, process reliability, and decarbonization — helping industrial operators remain competitive and resilient. For Kobe Steel, the investment aligns with green transformation (GX) initiatives under its “KOBELCO-X” transformation strategy. For Malta, the partnership further strengthens a global investor and partner base as the company scales the commercial deployment of its technology.
Addition information about Kobe Steel, Ltd. can be found at: KOBE STEEL, LTD.
About Malta Inc.
Malta Inc. is a cleantech company — originating from X (formerly Google X), a research and development organization under Alphabet Inc. — developing advanced heat pumps (Malta AHP) and steam energy management and storage solutions (Malta SEMS) based on its proprietary thermodynamic technology. Malta is backed by Kobe Steel, Cox Energy, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, X (Alphabet), Siemens Energy Ventures, Alfa Laval, Proman, Chevron Technology Ventures, and other leading investors committed to scaling competitive, sustainable industrial energy solutions.