Dive Brief:
- Energy storage startup Aquion Energy has added $20 million in funding to $35 million announced in April 2013, bringing a close to its $55 million Series D financing round.
- Bill Gates is among the new investors, including Nick and Joby Pritzker through their family’s firm Tao Invest, Bright Capital and Gentry Venture Partners. Previous investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Foundation Capital, and Advanced Technology Ventures also contributed to the round.
- Aquion plans to use the money to accelerate production at its manufacturing plant in Pennsylvania. It's looking to start shipping its Aqueous Hybrid Ion battery storage system out in the first half of 2014 and achieve its goal of cost-competitive storage to the tune of $250/kilowatt-hour.
Dive Insight:
Signs are the energy storage market is emerging. Aquion has now received over $100 million in total investments and grants, according to Greentech Media, including a partnership with Siemens. With that kind of backing, if Aquion can bring cost-effective storage to market, the company could scale fast. Expect Aquion to be one of the big players early on in the storage space.
“We are expecting Aquion Energy’s commercial launch in 2014 to be disruptive to the world of stationary energy storage,” says Ray Lane, partner emeritus at Kleiner Perkins. "The company is well-positioned for impressive growth in the burgeoning global market for energy storage."
