The announcement was featured in CleanTechnica, PV Magazine Australia and Toyota Ventures.

Relectrify, a world leader in advanced cell-level battery control solutions, announced today that it has closed a round of growth funding led by San Francisco Bay Area-based Toyota Ventures, the technology investment arm of global automotive and manufacturing company Toyota. US and Asia-based deep tech venture firm Creative Ventures also joins Relectrify as a new investor. Relectrify’s existing shareholders – which include Australia’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation, Energy Innovation Capital, and the venture arms of South Korean industrial company GS and European power company EDP – further increased their investment in Relectrify’s ground-breaking technology.

The investment enables Relectrify to accelerate the adoption of its technology by manufacturers of battery energy storage systems in residential, commercial & industrial and grid applications in global markets, having previously proven its technology via repurposing second-life electrical vehicle batteries.

Relectrify’s BMS+Inverter technology replaces conventional battery management systems and inverters with a single electronic system that controls individual cells to generate grid-compliant Alternating Current (AC) directly from a battery pack. This technology revolutionizes battery storage, increasing the battery lifetime by as much as a third, and reducing power electronic costs by up to 30 percent compared to traditional battery systems.

“Robust energy storage solutions are key to reaching net zero.” said Lisa Coca, Climate Fund partner at Toyota Ventures. “Relectrify’s unique cell-level battery control technology has the potential to unlock significant cost, lifetime, safety and resilience benefits for battery systems, whether they are repurposed EV batteries or new stationary energy storage systems. We look forward to supporting the team as they contribute to decarbonization by reinventing the battery management system and inverter technology.”

Toyota Ventures is Toyota’s first standalone early-stage venture capital firm. Through the Toyota Ventures Climate Fund, the firm invests in early stage cleantech disruptors like Relectrify. Toyota Ventures also invests in artificial intelligence, autonomy, mobility, robotics, cloud technology, smart cities, digital health, fintech, and materials via the Toyota Ventures Frontier Fund.

“Relectrify’s BMS+Inverter technology is poised to meet the voracious global demand for better performing energy storage solutions that sit at the center of the global transition to renewables.” said Creative Ventures General Partner Alex Luce. “With the growth of battery storage world-wide, Relectrify’s accessible market is enormous and strongly aligned with our thesis on electrification and the pressing need for deployment of energy storage at multiple scales.”

Creative Ventures, a venture firm investing in early-stage companies solving humanity’s most critical crises, focuses its investments on innovative deep tech companies with global-scale solutions. Addressing pressing climate needs and the energy transition has been a major thrust of the firm’s investment focus since inception.

“Our team at Relectrify is helping the world transition to renewable energy by making battery energy storage a more compelling commercial proposition,” said Relectrify CEO Valentin Muenzel. “We are excited to be joined by Toyota Ventures and Creative Ventures as we move into high-volume battery storage systems including using non-lithium and particularly new Li-ion cells.”

Founded in 2015, Relectrify’s technology has been validated by a number of technical projects and pilots, including American Electric Power, Counties Energy and IBM Research and with its ReVolve® product that combines Relectrify’s BMS+Inverter technology with nine second-life electric vehicle batteries to store over 120kWh of energy for commercial & industrial applications.

The Toyota Ventures and Creative Ventures relationships will help Relectrify to scale its technology and reach more markets across the globe, offering Relectrify deep technical expertise and global resources, along with an extensive network in Asia to increase its impact and help accelerate the transition to renewables.

Relectrify will also continue to scale its R&D and extend the capabilities of its innovative BMS+Inverter technology, which is the subject of a large and growing global patent portfolio. Relectrify supplies or licenses its technology to companies for simple integration into their battery energy storage systems, or works to co-develop products using the proprietary cell-level control architecture.

About Relectrify

Relectrify is a developer of advanced battery control solutions. Founded in Melbourne, Australia in 2015, Relectrify’s technologies, based on a cell-level control architecture, demonstrably increase the lifetime and decrease the cost of battery storage systems in homes, industry, the power grid, and beyond. To learn more, including for prospective collaborators, visit relectrify.com

About Toyota Ventures

Toyota Ventures is a San Francisco Bay Area-based venture capital firm that invests in early-stage startups from around the world. Founded in July 2017, its mission is to discover what’s next for Toyota by helping startups bring disruptive technologies and business models to market quickly. With more than $500 million in assets under management, the firm’s funds include the Toyota Ventures Frontier Fund focused on artificial intelligence, cloud computing, autonomy, mobility, robotics, smart cities, digital health, financial technologies, and materials; and the Toyota Ventures Climate Fund focused on innovative solutions for carbon neutrality. For more information about Toyota Ventures and its portfolio companies, please visit www.toyota.ventures

About Creative Ventures

Creative Ventures is a leading global deep tech venture firm investing in early-stage companies solving humanity’s most critical crises. Led by a team of world-class experts, the firm’s work is informed by rigorous research, unmatched market understanding, and the dedication to lead our companies to success. More information can be found at www.creativeventures.vc