From: Mercom Capital Group

Cirba Solutions, a provider of end-to-end battery recycling management solutions, received a $50 million minority investment from Tokyo-based Marubeni Corporation. Cirba says this investment supports its ongoing efforts to rapidly expand its operational footprint, addressing the market’s needs to create a sustainable closed-loop battery materials supply chain.

Integrated solar tracker and software solutions firm NEXtracker, a subsidiary of diversified manufacturing company Flex, has raised $638 million in an initial public offering (IPO) by selling 26.6 million shares at $24 per share. The shares started trading on the National Global Select Market on February 9, 2023. NEXtracker has also granted the underwriters a 30-day window to buy up to an additional 3.99 million shares at the IPO prices.

Ionblox, a developer of high-energy density lithium-ion batteries, announced the second close of its Series B funding round, totaling $32 million. Lilium and Applied Ventures led the additional funding round, with participation from Temasek and Catalus Capital. The additional funds will be used to advance the company’s technology, develop high-power batteries for electric aviation, and prototype fast-charging batteries for electric vehicles.

Turno, a commercial electric vehicle (EV) distribution and financing platform, has raised $13.8 million in series A funding which would be used to build proprietary battery technology and scale across the country. The funding round was co-led by global venture capital firms B Capital and Quona Capital. The company plans to use the funding for a proprietary battery tech platform to address issues around end-of-life battery value amid concerns around EV batteries and e-waste globally.

VFlowTech, a manufacturer of vanadium-based redox flow batteries, has raised $10 million in a Series A funding round. Japan-based venture capital firm Real Tech Holdings led the investment round. VFlowTech plans to use the new funds to set up a 200 MWh production line capacity, scale up the manufacturing of its 250 kWh modular vanadium-based long-duration energy storage solutions and expand into new markets such as Türkiye, the U.S., Japan, and India.

Quino Energy, a startup focusing on organic flow battery technology, raised an additional $1.25 million in funding to supplement its Series Seed financing round. The round brings the total raised in the financing round to $4.55 million. The funding was provided by Energy Revolution Ventures and Doral Energy Tech Ventures, while TechEnergy Ventures increased the size of their earlier investment.

Solaria, a solar technology, services, and installation company, has received a $10 million strategic investment from Foris Ventures, an entity affiliated with John Doerr, Chairman of Kleiner Perkins. The investment is part of a $30 million bridge round in support of Complete Solaria’s previously announced business combination with Freedom Acquisition I Corp. This $10 million strategic investment is in addition to progress on the bridge funding, which included a $14.2 million investment from T.J. Rodgers, $3.5 million from Freedom’s sponsors, and $2 million from other investors.

Click here for reports and trackers on funding and M&A transactions in solar, energy storage, smart grid, and efficiency sectors.

Read last week’s funding roundup.