EnerVenue raises $300M to scale lithium-free grid batteries
What's the deal? California-based battery startup EnerVenue has closed a $300 million Series B extension round led by Full Vision CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, the family office of Hong Kong property tycoon Peter Lee Ka-kitDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. The Hong Kong Investment CorporationDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a government-backed investor, also participated.
Alongside the raise, EnerVenue appointed Henning RathDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → — a veteran energy executive who previously served as managing director at German renewable energy company Enpal — as chief executive officer. The company will establish a regional headquarters in Hong Kong to coordinate sales across Asia.
EnerVenue makes nickel-hydrogen energy storage vessels based on battery technology originally developed by NASADealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → in the 1980s and adapted for commercial use by Stanford professor Yi CuiDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → in 2017.
The company claims its batteries can last more than 30,000 charge cycles — roughly four to six times the throughput of standard lithium-ion batteries — and can operate up to three cycles daily without interruption. Unlike lithium-ion batteries, they carry no thermal runaway risk, a key safety advantage for grid-scale applications. Manufacturing is based in Changzhou, China, while R&D remains in Silicon Valley.
Why now? Demand for long-duration, grid-scale energy storage is accelerating as renewables account for a growing share of electricity generation and grids require more resilience. Lithium-ion batteries dominate the market but face constraints around cycle life, safety, and raw material supply chains. EnerVenue's nickel-hydrogen chemistry sidesteps many of those limitations.
The company raised $308 million in 2024 and has since demonstrated its technology through a pilot with German energy company RWEDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
What could go wrong? Nickel-hydrogen batteries have a long track record in space applications but limited history at grid scale. Manufacturing costs remain a key challenge — the Changzhou facility will need to achieve significant economies of scale to compete with the deeply entrenched lithium-ion supply chain. Grid-scale energy storage is also a market where project timelines are long, regulatory approvals are complex, and customers move slowly.
The concentration of lead investment from a single family office also raises questions about the diversity and depth of the investor base.
The signal: EnerVenue's raise is part of a broader search by investors and utilities for battery technologies that can outlast and outperform lithium-ion at grid scale. The involvement of Hong Kong and Chinese capital — Full Vision, HKIC, and a Changzhou manufacturing base — reflects a strategic calculus that the energy storage supply chain will continue to run through Asia even as Western markets invest in domestic alternatives.
Long-duration, lithium-free storage is moving from science project to commercial reality, and the capital flowing into it is growing accordingly.
Sources:
EnerVenue
Forbes
ESG today
Tech Funding News
The Next Web
South China Morning Post
Energy Storage News
Image credit:
EnerVenue
J.V.
