Battery storage companies raised 159% more corporate funding in 2021 than in 2020, with funding activity reflecting the “significance of battery energy storage in the energy transition,” analysis group Mercom Capital has said.
Companies in the battery storage sector attracted US$11.4 billion in corporate funding in the first nine months of 2021, a 363% rise on the same period of last year.
Companies in the battery storage industry raised US$9.6 billion in corporate funding during H1 2021, with European manufacturing startup Northvolt once again the biggest single recipient of venture capital (VC) investment.
Venture capital (VC) funding in battery storage companies in the third quarter of 2020 was up 78% on the previous quarter, while total corporate funding in the sector for the first nine months of the year rose by 62% compared to the same period in 2019.
While the renewable energy industry has suffered significant blows such as loss of employment during the COVID-19 crisis, venture capital (VC) funding into the battery energy storage sector in the first quarter of this year nonetheless saw a significant increase over the previous year’s equivalent period.
Along with TEPCO, Mercom named other major utilities and companies with a background in oil and gas as investors in the battery storage sector during the quarter.
Last year was a “seminal year” for energy storage, where the technology moved from “dream to reality”, according to impact investor Nancy Pfund, one of the earliest backers to Tesla and SolarCity.
