In the third quarter of 2018, VC funding for battery storage, efficiency and smart grid companies rose to $469 million raised from 23 deals
Venture Capital (VC) funding for battery storage companies witnessed an increase of 39% with $783 million raised during the first nine months of 2018 as compared to $563 million raised in the same period last year, according to a report on funding and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity by Mercom Capital Group – a global clean energy communications and consulting firm.
In the third quarter of 2018, VC funding for battery storage, efficiency and smart grid companies rose to $469 million raised from 23 deals compared to $371 million raised in 28 deals in the second quarter of this year. The funding was jumped by 129% year-on-year from $205 million raised in 29 deals in the third quarter of 2017.
Top five VC deals
During the nine-month period of 2018, the top five VC deals include QuantumScape raised $100 million, followed by Stem which raised $80 million, Sonnen raised $71 million, Sila Technologies raised $70 million and Ionic Materials raised $65 million. Overall 51 VC investors took participation in battery storage companies funding between January to December 2018.
Increase in announced debt activity funding
In the first nine months of 2018, announced debt and public market financing activity was 156% higher with $446 million in eight deals as compared to $174 million raised in 11 deals in the first nine months of 2017.
During the said period, there were six announced battery storage project funding deals accumulating a combined $72 million compared to $2.1 billion raised in six deals in the same period in 2017.
There were an overall 10 battery storage merger and acquisitions (M&A) transactions in the first nine months of 2018 compared to three transactions in the same period last year. In the third quarter of 2018, there were only two battery storage M&A transactions. On the other hand, there were four battery storage M&A transactions in the second quarter of 2018 and one transaction in third quarter of 2017.
During January-September 2018, there were seven M&A transactions for battery storage project compared to four transactions in the same period last year. In the third quarter of 2018, there were five battery storage project M&A transactions, whereas two transactions in the second quarter of 2018 and third quarter of 2017.
