Germany-based advanced battery technology developer Sonnen closed an $85m funding round yesterday featuring industrial product maker General Electric and energy equipment manufacturer Envision Energy.
The round was filled out by Inven Capital, the corporate venturing arm of energy utility Čez’, eCapital, MVP, Set Ventures and Thomas Putter, formerly CEO of asset manager Allianz Capital Partners. General Electric made its investment in June this year through its GE Ventures unit.
Sonnen’s SonnenBatterie systems connect with small-scale renewable energy systems like solar panels and utilise intelligent software to manage energy use through the course of the day. Roughly 15,000 SonnenBatteries have been installed across the world.
The company will use the funding to grow its business in overseas markets like the US, UK, Italy and Australia, and plans to develop additional products like its energy sharing platform, SonnenCommunity, and its grid-scale SonnenFlat system.
Part of that international growth is set to be achieved with the help of Envision, which produces wind turbines as well as intelligent energy management software.
Lei Zhang, Envision Energy’s chief executive, said: “The future of energy is clean, decentralised and digital. With its SonnenCommunity platform and smart SonnenBatterie technology, Sonnen already demonstrates how our energy infrastructure will look tomorrow.
“We were very impressed by their proven capabilities, their rapid growth and the high level of continuing innovation in the energy space. We want to support Sonnen’s vision of the future of energy and make this future a reality together.”
The round follows $3.7m of series A funding from eCapital in 2013 and a further $9.4m from Munich Venture Partners, Chrysalix Set and eCapital in December 2014.
– Photo courtesy of Sonnen Group