From: Mercom Capital Group

NanoGraf, a battery materials company with patented silicon-anode technology, has raised $65 million in a Series B funding round. The funding round was co-led by Volta Energy Technologies and CC Industries. With the additional funding, NanoGraf plans to accelerate the development of its advanced battery technologies and expand its production capabilities to meet the increasing demand for high-performance batteries in various industries.

Toyota Tsusho Corporation, the trading arm of the Toyota Group, inked an agreement with Japan-based renewable energy developer SB Energy, a subsidiary of SoftBank Group, to acquire an 85% stake in the latter. The transaction will help the clean energy businesses of the two companies by accelerating their carbon-neutral initiatives. Under the agreement, both companies would jointly develop renewable energy and electric power supply-demand adjustment, among other measures, to achieve carbon neutrality in their respective operations.

Petronas, a Malaysian state-owned oil company, announced that it’s clean energy subsidiary Gentari Renewables Australia had completed the purchase of Australian renewables firm Wirsol Energy, which has solar and battery energy storage integration capabilities and a pipeline of development projects. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Cylib, a German battery recycling startup, has announced that it has raised €8 million (~$8.6 million) in a seed extension round, bringing the total seed round amount to €11.6 million (~$12.6 million). World Fund, a climate-tech venture capital firm, led the investment round with participation from 10x Founders and existing investors VSquared Ventures, Speedinvest, and business angels Kai Hansen and Karim Jalbout.

Indian electric vehicle startup FreshBus has secured ₹260 million (~$3 million) in seed funding from ixigo, an AI-based travel app, to launch inter-city electric bus services across India. The company will utilize the funds to offer an alternative for affordable and environment-friendly inter-city bus travel. FreshBus will commence its services from Hyderabad and Bengaluru by launching 24 electric buses and announcing its first operational routes in March 2023. Over the next 2-3 years, the startup plans to scale up its operations to over 1,000 buses pan-India.

ChargerHelp!, a company specializing in operations, maintenance, and workforce development for the electric vehicle (EV) industry, has secured $17.5 million in Series A funding. The financing round was led by Blue Bear Capital, with participation from Aligned Climate Capital, Exelon Corporation, as well as previous investors such as Energy Impact Partners and non-sibi ventures. The funding will help the company double down on its commitment to reliable EV charging.

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.