From: Mercom Capital Group

Factorial Energy, a solid-state battery company, raised $200 million in a Series D funding round led by Mercedes-Benz (DAI) and Stellantis. Funding will be used to accelerate commercial production and deployment of Factorial’s solid-state battery technology that is safer and offers up to 50 percent greater driving range than current lithium-ion technology. Factorial is constructing a state-of-the-art pilot production facility located in the New England area, and the construction is scheduled to start in early 2022.

8minute Solar Energy, a developer of utility-scale PV power plants and energy storage projects, closed $400 million in financing from EIG, an institutional investor in the global energy and infrastructure sectors. The financing agreement includes a portion of growth equity and a letter of credit.

Amp Energy, a renewable energy developer, announced the closing of an innovative $350 million cross-jurisdictional credit facility with a consortium of institutional investors, including Brookfield Asset Management and Nomura Securities. Brookfield Asset Management and the sovereign wealth fund served as the main investors in this transaction. ECP will join the consortium post-closing.

OYA Solar, an independent power producer, has raised additional capital, increasing its corporate investment to $35 million. Proceeds of the expanded investment will be used to accelerate the development and construction of OYA’s 3GW+ pipeline across the Northeast and mid-Atlantic and to fund acquisitions.

Aigen, a solar-powered robotics platform for agriculture and soil regeneration, announced a $4 million seed round led by NEA with participation from AgFunder, Global Founders Capital, and ReGen Ventures.

Aker Horizons, an investment firm, announced that it had finalized the transaction with Hanwha Solutions, a multinational energy services, petrochemical, and real estate development company. Under the deal, Aker Horizons has sold approximately 21.9 million shares in REC Silicon to Hanwha Solutions for NOK 20 (~$2.3) per share and has thus received approximately NOK 438 (~$50) million. In addition, Hanwha Solutions acquired approximately 48.2 million new shares in REC Silicon through a private placement, providing approximately NOK 964 (~$ 110) million in proceeds to REC Silicon.

Fifth Third Bancorp, a diversified financial services company, announced a definitive agreement to acquire Dividend Finance, a fintech point-of-sale (POS) lender, providing solar financing solutions for residential renewable energy and sustainability-focused home improvement. Fifth Third currently expects the transaction to close in the second quarter of 2022.

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

Read last week’s funding roundup.