Rondo Energy, a thermal energy storage company, raised $60 million in a new funding round from Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Energy Impact Partners, SCG, TITAN, Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund, Rio Tinto, SABIC, Aramco Ventures, and climate investors SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust (SEEIT) and John Doerr.
The Rondo Heat Battery turns intermittent power sources like solar and wind into continuous, high-temperature clean heat.
“To tackle our climate challenge, we need tools to build big, low-cost, clean energy infrastructure fast. The Rondo Heat Battery is one of those tools. This investment will help us grow our capacity to meet customer demand and begin to build at scale.” said John O’Donnell, CEO of Rondo Energy.
Rondo Energy will use the funding to grow its international operations and develop and build storage projects around the world. In 2023, Rondo began operations of its first commercial unit, lowering the carbon intensity of biofuel produced by Calgren Renewable Fuels.
Rio Tinto, Aramco Ventures, SABIC, SCG, TITAN, and SEEIT have joined Rondo’s Strategic Investor Advisory Board (SIAB).
“To avoid the worst effects of climate change, businesses, and sectors must shift to low-carbon energy, including managing the intermittency of renewables through energy storage. We see a unique opportunity for Rondo’s thermal storage solution to provide a pathway for industrial businesses to accelerate the clean energy transition,” said Brandon Middaugh, Senior Director of Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund.
VC Funding activity for the energy storage sector was up 27%, in 1H 2023, with $3.8 billion in 43 deals compared to $3 billion in 48 deals in 1H 2022, according to Mercom’s recently released Mercom’s 1H And Q2 2023 Funding and M&A Report for Storage & Smart Grid.
Recently, MGA Thermal, a thermal energy-based long-duration energy storage system provider, secured $8.25 million to fuel the company’s growth.
