Neil Tierney is a seasoned founder and CEO with a track record of building and scaling high growth companies across energy, sustainability, and technology.
In the hydrogen sector, he was instrumental in advancing commercial vehicle infrastructure through NanoSUN, acquired by HGEN, and now leads HyKit, in partnership with JCB, Hycap and HydraB, driving innovation in hydrogen-powered transport.
“What really excites me about HyKit is that it’s part of the wider HydraB Group end-to-end hydrogen ecosystem that includes production with Hygen, logistics with Ryze, and end use with JCB and Wrightbus. It’s a unique global platform – there isn’t another set of businesses like that with shared ownership. The potential for the impact that we can have is huge.”
As HyKit CEO, Neil’s ambition is to bridge the current refuelling gap in the hydrogen mobility economy.
“The largest barrier to successfully delivering the hydrogen economy for mobility is refuelling, and that’s where HyKit comes in,” he says. “We’re aiming to provide automotive quality, robust and reliable refuelling equipment at scale to help deliver the successful hydrogen economy that everyone’s been promising. We want customers have a hydrogen experience that has parity with diesel refuelling times.
“To do this, we know we need to bring the supply chain along with us. That’s exactly what we’re doing right now by working closely with them from an engineering point of view to ensure they develop at the pace we need them to.”
Neil is no stranger to clean energy innovation. Named Shell UK Livewire Entrepreneur in 2004, he went on to found ONZO, a pioneering smart grid company later acquired by SSE. Passionate about sustainable solutions, he was part of the founding team at Allbirds, the eco-friendly shoe brand that went public on the NASDAQ.
He then played a key role in growing ICF Next to 1,600 people, a global data agency, which was a roll-up by ICF with 7,000 people which is also on the NASDAQ. Expanding into the electric mobility space, Neil has worked with leading companies in battery electric vehicles, including UBCO, PURE Electric Scooters, and DUST Moto, and with AEM, developing rare-earth–free electric motors.
With multiple successful exits and a career spanning clean energy, mobility, and sustainable consumer products, Neil brings deep expertise in scaling high-growth ventures and a passion for building businesses that shape a cleaner, more sustainable future.
“A huge driver for me in terms of doing what I do is being able to tell my kids that I’m doing something useful for the planet. I’ve always had a great love of being active in the outdoors, so from my point of view, it would be great if we could still have some pristine environments left to enjoy in the future.”
