Battery storage draws USD 299m of corp funding in Q1 2018

The global battery storage sector has raised a total of USD 299 million (EUR 245m) in corporate funding in the first quarter of 2018, which marks a near doubling from the prior three months and a 273.8% jump on the year.

This was unveiled by Mercom Capital Group LLC, which released its first-quarter (Q1) report on funding and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity for the battery storage, smart grid and energy efficiency sectors.

Corporate funding in battery storage surged to USD 299 million in 12 deals, all of which private equity and corporate venture capital, from USD 154 million in six deals in the final quarter of 2017. In the year ago period, total corporate funding reached just USD 80 million in 10 deals, including USD 58 million in eight venture capital (VC) deals.

US intelligent energy storage provider Stem Inc secured the largest share in terms of value through a USD-80-million Series D round led by growth equity firm Activate Capital. Massachusetts-based materials technology company Ionic Materials, meanwhile, raised USD 65 million in a Series C financing round, and Durapower got an investment of USD 40.18 million.

Mercom noted that there were four battery storage-related M&A deals in January-March 2018, all with undisclosed terms. This compares to one such deal in each of Q4 2017 and Q1 2017.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.819)

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