EnerVenue, a U.S.-based renewable storage battery manufacturer, announced that it secured $12 million in seed funding on its launch.

The Chairman of Towngas, Peter Lee, led the seed funding round. The founder of Energy Capital Partners, Doug Kimmelman, also joined.

EnerVenue said that the new seed funding would be used to enhance the development of its clean energy storage solutions. It also added that the metal-hydrogen battery is a cost-effective renewable energy storage alternative compared to lithium-ion batteries in the market.

“The performance and longevity of nickel-hydrogen batteries are well-established and second to none. We are now able to deliver the same performance and durability at a breakthrough competitive price using new low-cost materials,” said Yi Cui, Chairman of the Board and Chief Technology Advisor of EnerVenue.

The renewable storage battery manufacturer claimed that its batteries could operate in extremely hot weather conditions like 140° Fahrenheit (F) as well as extremely cold weather conditions like -40° F. It added that its metal-hydrogen batteries have a lifespan of over 30 years with very good overcharge, over-discharge, and deep-cycle capabilities.

EnerVenue stated that the operating expenses of metal-hydrogen batteries would cost around a penny for its one-kilowatt-hour cycle due to the usage of low-cost material in batteries.

According to Mercom’s 1H and Q2 2020 Funding and M&A Report for Storage, Grid, and Efficiency, global VC (venture capital, private equity, and corporate venture capital)funding for battery storage companies in 1H 2020 was down by 61%, with $536 million (~₹39.07 billion) in 14 deals compared to $1.4 billion (~₹102.07 billion) raised in 17 deals in 1H 2019. The amount was higher last year, primarily due to Northvolt’s $1 billion (~₹72.90 billion) funding round in Q2 2019.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways recently proposed amendments to the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, to include safety evaluation standards for hydrogen fuel cell-based vehicles.