Venture capital funding for battery and energy storage almost doubled between the first two quarters of this year, according to Mercom Capital Group.
VC funding totaled $126 million in the second quarter of this year, up from$69 million in the previous quarter.
A report by Mercom cited 13 VC funding deals with 24 investors in the second quarter, compared with seven deals in the first quarter of 2015.
Advanced Microgrid Solutions (AMS), known for its hybrid electric building fleets, raised $8.8 million from investors that included former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The AMS’ deal was the fifth biggest in the space, Mercom said.
Advanced Microgrid Solutions raised $8.8 million from investors that included former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
VionX Energy, a maker of vanadium redox flow batteries, was number one in amount raised with $58.1 million, followed by carbon nanotube product maker Cnano Technology with $15 million. Next was Stem, which has gained attention for its peak-shaving commercial storage, with $12 million and then ultra-capacitor maker Skeleton Technologies with $10.7 million.
While the second quarter was strong, 2015 saw less VC capital for battery and energy storage than the same period in 2014, with $194 million raised compared with $282 million during the same period last year.
The latest Mercom report also covers the energy efficiency and smart grid sectors. Smart grid raised $289 million in the first half of this year, compared with $183 million in the first half of last year. Energy efficiency firms brought in $351 million, up from $269 million during the same period last year.
Commercial and residential solar continued “to attract record funding”, Mercom CEO Raj Prabhu said. He noted that SunEdison said its yieldco TerraForm Power is set to become the first yieldco to own and operate energy storage assets.
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