Click here to download our Annual and Q4 2022 Funding and M&A Executive Summary on Energy Storage, Smart Grid, and Efficiency.

Total corporate funding (including venture capital funding, public market, and debt financing) for the energy storage, smart grid, and energy efficiency sectors in 2022 was up 63% with $31.7 billion compared to $19.5 billion in 2021.

“Funding into energy storage continued to grow at record levels in 2022; however, some of the funding activity shifted from venture capital and private equity to public market and debt and debt financing. In addition to record funding activity, energy storage companies and projects were also acquired in record numbers, a reflection of maturity in energy storage markets and assets. The global energy transition, and the shift toward EVs, along with the Inflation Reduction Act, provided strong tailwinds for energy storage companies,” said Raj Prabhu, CEO of Mercom Capital Group.

Energy Storage

Total corporate funding in the energy storage sector was up 55% with $26.4 billion in 2022 (highest in a year to date), compared to $17 billion in 2021. VC funding for energy storage companies decreased 34% with $5.8 billion in 2022 compared to $8.8 billion in 2021.

Lithium-ion-based battery technology companies received the most VC funding in 2022. Other categories that received funding included battery recycling, iron-air batteries, solid-state batteries, and energy storage systems.

A record 28 energy storage companies were acquired in 2022 – the most since 2014.

Smart Grid

Smart grid companies raised $3.3 billion in VC funding in 46 deals in 2022, a 175% increase compared to $1.2 billion raised in 35 deals in 2021. This was the largest amount of VC funding raised by smart grid companies since 2010. Total corporate funding, including debt and public market financing, came to $4.7 billion in 58 deals in 2022 compared to $2 billion in 38 deals in 2021.

Smart charging companies had the largest share of VC funding in the sector in 2022 with $2.2 billion in 26 deals, followed by distributed generation and integration companies with $375 million in seven deals, and data analytics companies with $342 million in four deals.

In 2022, there were 20 M&A transactions recorded in the smart grid sector compared to 19 transactions in 2021.

Efficiency 

VC funding for energy efficiency companies came to $490 million in nine deals in 2022 compared to $122 million in seven deals in 2021. Total corporate funding, including debt and public market financing, reached $540 million in 2022 compared to $465 million in 2021.

Mercom Capital Group’s Energy Storage, Smart Grid, and Efficiency Funding and M&A Reports are comprehensive high-quality reports delivering superior insight, market trends, and analysis. These reports help bring clarity to professionals in the current financial landscape of the smart grid industry.

The Quarterly Funding and M&A Reports contain quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) information on market activity displayed in easy-to-digest charts, graphs and tables, as well as data-driven analysis covering:

• Venture capital funding deals including top investors, QoQ trends, and a breakdown of charts and graphs by stage;
• VC funding by technology;
• Debt and other funding deals;
• Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) including QoQ trends, with charts and graphs by technologies;
• Battery and storage funding deals;
• Smart Grid funding deals;
• Energy Efficiency funding deals;
• New cleantech funds;

This report also contains comprehensive lists of all announced deals and transactions during the quarter, including:

• VC deals and investors;
• M&A transactions and acquirers;
• New cleantech funds.

There were 304 companies and investors covered in this report. The report is 161 pages in length and contains 130 charts, graphs and tables.