VC funding for battery storage almost doubles in 2017

Venture capital (VC) funding for battery storage companies rose to USD 714 million (EUR 582.5m) in 2017 from USD 365 million a year back, Mercom Capital Group said on Monday.

The spectacular increase was mainly helped by a deal in which Microvast Power Systems of China raised USD 400 million from investors including CITIC Securities, CDH Investment and National Venture Capital. Battery Energy Storage Solutions’ USD-65-million funding round and a deal by Forsee Power under which it got USD 65 million were also among the top deals in the past 12 months.

Overall, the number of VC deals in the period under review was 30, against 38 deals in 2016. Energy storage downstream companies received the most funding, or USD 68 million, followed by lithium-based battery companies with USD 65 million.

The number of debt and public market financing deals in the sector was 12, valued at USD 177 million, compared to eight deals worth USD 175 million in the previous year. Total corporate funding, including debt and public market financing, improved to USD 890 million from USD 540 million.

According to the report, there were six mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions in 2017 in the battery storage category, as compared to 11 in 2016.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.816)

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