In 2021, the total financing of global battery storage companies reached 17 billion US dollars, a seven-year high

According to the latest Mercom Capital data, total global corporate financing in battery storage, smart grid, and energy efficiency, including venture capital financing, public market financing, and debt financing, grew 140% to $19.
5 billion in 2021, compared to $8.
1 billion
in 2020.

Global venture capital (venture capital, private equity, and corporate venture capital) by battery storage, smart grid, and energy efficiency companies increased 290% to $10.
1 billion in 2021, compared to $2.
6 billion in 2020.

"In 2021, venture capital investment in battery energy storage companies exploded, and financing activity for the first time reflected the importance of battery storage in the energy transition," said Raj Prabhu, CEO of Mercom Capital Group, "We expect financing activity to remain strong as significant investment is required to get battery technology off the ground and into the commercial phase at scale
.
" ”

Battery storage

In 2021, total corporate financing in the battery storage sector grew by 159%, with a total of 101 transactions reaching $17 billion
.
The amount of money raised in 2021 was the highest since 2014, and the number of deals almost doubled
compared to 2020.

Of these, 81 deals provided battery storage companies with a total of $8.
8 billion in venture capital, compared to $1.
6 billion raised for 32 transactions in 2020, an increase of 470%.

In 2021, lithium-ion battery technology companies received the most
venture capital.
Other categories that received funding included energy storage systems, solid-state batteries, flow batteries, thermal energy storage, liquid metal batteries, solid-state batteries, gravity storage, and metal-hydrogen batteries
.

The companies that received the most venture capital in 2021 were Northvolt raising $2.
8 billion and SVOLT raising $2.
6 billion.

In 2021, 260 venture capitalists/institutions were involved in battery storage transactions, compared to 105
in 2020.
Breakthrough Energy Ventures is the largest investor
in 2021.

In 2021, battery storage companies announced a significant increase in debt and public market financing, with 20 transactions totaling $8.
2 billion.

This is the highest amount
raised in debt and public market financing since 2014.
Plug Power's $2 billion share offering and SK Group's $1.
6 billion capital investment in Plug Power were the largest public market financing transactions
of 2021.

In 2021, four battery energy storage companies went public, including two mergers with special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), and two went public
through the traditional IPO route.
A total of 37 M&A transactions for battery energy storage projects were disclosed globally in 2021, compared to 24 in 2020
.

Smart grid

In 2021, total financing for smart grid companies, including debt and public market financing, reached $2 billion in 38 transactions, compared to a cumulative $758 million
raised from 41 transactions in 2020.
Smart grid companies raised $1.
2 billion in venture capital funding in 35 deals in 2021, up 55%
from $748 million raised in 38 deals in 2020.

The companies that received the most venture capital in 2021 were Aulton's $232 million, Ample's $160 million, Volta's $125 million, Mainspring Energy's $95 million, and AutoGrid Systems' $85 million
.

In 2021, a total of 129 investors/institutions participated in smart grid enterprise financing, compared to 102
in 2020.
The top VCs for 2021 are Energy Impact Partners, National Grid Partners, BoxGroup, bp Ventures, David Helgason, GS Futures, MCJ Collective, and Moore Strategic Ventures
.

Smart charging companies accounted for the largest share of venture capital funding in the sector in 2021, with a total of $789 million in 18 deals, followed by distributed generation and integration companies with $155 million in financing for six deals, and $116 million for three deals from data analytics companies
.

In 2021, 19 M&A transactions were recorded in the smart grid sector, compared to 21 in 2020
.

Energy efficiency

Total corporate funding, including debt and public market financing, reached $465 million in 2021, compared to $791 million
in 2020.
Among them, venture capital funding for energy efficiency companies reached US$122 million in 7 deals in 2021, compared to 16 transactions totaling US$291 million
in 2020.

The most disclosed venture capital firm in 2021 was Tendril raising $72 million, followed by Mysa raising $20 million, Cohesion raising $15 million, WattBuy raising $10 million and 75F raising $5 million
.

In 2021, a total of 29 investors participated in financing transactions globally, compared to 52 in 2020
.
WIND Ventures is the most active investor
in 2021.

In 2021, Energy Efficiency announced debt and public market financing raised $343 million in a single transaction, compared to $500 million in a single deal in 2020
.
M&A activity from Energy Efficiency companies totaled three transactions
in 2021.
There were 4 M&A transactions
in 2020.