Global battery storage sector lures USD 244m in Q1 corp funding

Battery storage, smart grid and energy efficiency companies raised a total of USD 252 million (EUR 232.4m) in venture capital (VC) funding in the first quarter of 2020, statistics by Mercom Capital Group LLC show.

This amount represents a 20% year-on-year increase from the same period of 2019. Some USD 244 million of the total came from nine transactions in the battery storage sector, including VC deals, debt and public market financing. Corporate funding in the battery storage segment alone rose by 88% from a year back when USD 130 million were raised in nine deals.

VC funding, including private equity and corporate venture capital, raised by battery storage companies in six deals amounted to USD 164 million, growing from USD 78 million a year back. Among the companies that got the most were Demand Power Group, a Canadian energy services firm that offers a behind-the-meter system with incorporated energy storage, with its USD-71-million equity raising from Star America, and cryogenic storage firm Highview Power. The latter received USD 46 million from Japan's Sumitomo Heavy Industries (TYO:6302) to extend its cryo battery technology.

Mercom said there were four merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions involving battery storage companies in the reporting period, none of which with disclosed value.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.922)

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