US-based energy storage technology developer ESS has closed a $13m series B round led by BASF Venture Capital, the corporate venturing arm of chemicals producer BASF.
The round also featured Cycle Capital Management, Presidio Partners Investment Management, InfraPartners Management and Pangaea Ventures, the latter of which led the company’s $3.2m series A round in 2015.
Founded in 2011, ESS develops and manufactures flow energy storage systems for commercial and utility-scale energy storage applications.
The funding will be used to automate the manufacturing process of the company’s Energy Warehouse iron flow battery system, which is intended to provide long-life energy storage for renewable energy infrastructure.
ESS had also received approximately $4.5m in development grants from the US government’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute, economic development organisation Oregon Best and others prior to its series A round.
Craig Evans, chief executive of ESS, said: “This investment underscores the strength of our technology, its value in the large, high-growth energy storage market and our ability to execute strategically.
“Customers are seeking cleaner, higher-performing alternatives to lithium-ion that can provide scalable, long-life, longer-duration storage and in combination with renewables, achieve economic parity with conventional generation. ESS’s safe, low-cost and sustainable all-iron flow battery is the ideal solution.”