International corporates 3M, Total, Mitsui, and Tokyo Electron all helped US-based energy storage company EnerVault raise $15.5m.
Investors in the company, which raised its series B round yesterday, included US-based industrial company 3M, joined Total Energy Ventures, a corporate venturing unit of the France-based oil & gas company, Mitsui Global Investments, a corporate venturing unit of the Japanese conglomerate, and TEL Venture Capital, a corporate venturing unit of Tokyo Electron.
Other backers also included natural gas provider Commercial Energy of California, as well as venture firms Oceanshore Ventures and US Invest. The round takes the total funding raised by Enervault to $24.5m
The company has also raised $5.5m in grant funding from the US Department of Energy. the California Energy Commission and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.
Enervault, which was founded in 2008, is developing electric energy storage systems for commercial and industrial facilities, renewables support and utility grids.
Richard See, investment partner at the Mitsui corporate venturing unit, said: "Redox flow batteries are creating a new paradigm for grid-scale energy storage. Because you scale the power independently of energy storage capacity, you can tailor the system to the needs of the application. EnerVault’s approach expands upon the fundamental configuring and sizing benefits of flow batteries to yield the best approach for utility-scale electricity. The more energy needed, the lower the costs, so it’s ideally suited for a number of situations where more than an hour or two of storage is needed."
Manoelle Lepoutre, president of the Total corporate venturing unit, said: "We see very significant opportunities for stationary energy storage systems to complement renewable energies and improve grid reliability and overall energy supply. EnerVault’s innovative technology addresses the key issues needed to integrate storage onto the grid or to complement intermittent renewable energy projects."