Mercom Capital’s report, Q1 2020 Funding and M&A Report for Storage, Grid & Efficiency, monitors the amount of venture capital funding received by battery storage, smart grid, and energy efficiency companies to start the year.
In Q1, total corporate funding for battery storage was $244 million across nine deals, significantly lower than the $635 million across 10 deals in Q4 2019, but 88% higher than the amount of funding raised in Q1 2019.
When looking strictly at VC funding, storage companies raised $164 million across six deals, which is up from Q4 2019’s $126 million across seven deals and Q1 2019’s mark of $78 million across seven deals.
Leading the industry in Q1 came Demand Power, which raised $71 million from Star America; Highview Power raised $46 million from Sumitomo Heavy Industries; Advano raised $19 million from Mitsui Kinzoku SBI Material Innovation Fund, Future Shape, PeopleFund, Thiel Capital, DCVC and Y Combinator; ZincFive raised $13 million from 40 North Ventures and TWAICE raised $12 million from Creandum.
Highview Power, you may remember, announced in December plans to develop the United States’ first long-duration, liquid-air energy storage system. Set to be located in northern Vermont, the system is sized at a minimum of 50 MW, with more than eight hours of storage for over 400 MWh.
The $164 million in VC funding raised by storage companies drove Q1’s total investment figures. Smart grid companies raised $81 million in Q1, while energy efficiency companies raised $7 million. This combined figure of $252 million in VC funding raised is up 20% from Q1 2019’s mark of $210 million.
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