From: Mercom Capital Group

Soelect – a developer of advanced solid-state battery components to power the next generation of electric vehicles, power tools, and mobile electronics – raised $11 million in Series A financing. Lotte Ventures teamed with GM Ventures and KTB Network to make the investment. Lotte Ventures was the lead investor through a fund sponsored by Lotte Chemical.

SES, a manufacturer of next-generation Li-Metal rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, closed the previously announced business combination of SES Holdings and Ivanhoe Capital Acquisition Corp (Ivanhoe). Ivanhoe shareholders approved the transaction on February 1, 2022. Ivanhoe was renamed “SES AI Corporation” in connection with the transaction. The Class A common stock and warrants of SES will commence trading on the New York Stock Exchange on February 4, 2022, under the new ticker symbols “SES” and “SES WS,” respectively.

Berlin-based Ecoligo, which specializes in solar projects for companies in developing and emerging countries, has received a €5 million (~$5.6 million) loan from Dutch cooperative investment company Oikocredit International. The loan is used to implement around 15 projects for small and medium-sized enterprises in Ghana and Kenya. 

German utility Thuringer Energie (TEAG) acquired a 50.1% stake in solar project developer Innosun. The deal also includes the acquisition of a 50% stake in Innosun Service, which provides maintenance services for solar projects. Innosun develops, builds, operates, and maintains solar projects throughout Germany. The company has already implemented 174 projects, including ground-mounted parks and rooftop installations, with a combined capacity of 70 MW, and services solar projects of more than 32 MW.

Texas-based Zeta Energy, a company focused on developing sustainable batteries for the electric vehicle and energy storage markets, raised $23 million in a Series A funding round led by Moore Strategic Ventures. The company plans to use the fresh funds to expand its laboratory facility in Houston and further commercialization activities for its battery technology.

Stem, an advanced energy storage solutions provider, announced that it had completed the acquisition of Also Energy Holdings. Stem solidifies its position as a global leader in clean energy intelligence and optimization software through this acquisition, adding 32.85 GW of solar assets under management in more than 50 countries.

Energy Vault, the company developing sustainable, grid-scale energy storage solutions, announced a license and royalty agreement for renewable energy storage with Atlas Renewable and their majority investor China Tianying, international environmental management and waste remediation corporation. The deal includes a $100 million transaction and an initial 100MWh project to drive decarbonization in China. It also supports the deployment of Energy Vault’s proprietary gravity energy storage technology and energy management software platform within mainland China and the Special Administrative Regions (SAR) of Hong Kong and Macau.

An Austin-based solar software platform, Bodhi secured $4 million in a new financing round led by Clean Energy Ventures, a venture capital firm funding early-stage climate tech innovation. The company plans to use the fresh funds to expand its team across engineering, sales and marketing, and operations while accelerating its product development roadmap. Bodhi says solar installers can integrate their CRMs and other operational tools into the company’s solar platform to create engaging customer experiences and automate communications, tracking design and installation, and post-commissioning performance and cost savings.

Skeleton Technologies, an Estonia-based manufacturer of ultracapacitor-based energy storage, raised €37.6 million (~$42.6 million) in a Series D funding round from a group of investors. Including the latest round, the company has raised over ​​€200 million (~$223 million) to date. The Round D3 was led by Taavet Hinrikus, from Taavet+Sten with Nidoco AB, EIT Innoenergy, Bengt Wahlqvist, co-founder of battery charging specialist CTEK, a group of founding team members of Adyen and others joining the round.

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.