Branch Energy lands $33M Series B to expand battery business beyond Texas

What's the deal? Branch Energy, a startup that installs batteries in commercial buildings, has raised a $33 million Series B, chief executive officer Alex Ince-Cushman told Axios Pro. The company plans to use the funding to grow beyond its home base in Texas.

Why now? Grid battery installations are surging to help manage the boom in electricity demand from AI data centers. That demand is pushing utilities and businesses to add storage capacity that can balance strained grids.

What's the endgame? Branch Energy puts batteries inside commercial buildings, giving property operators a way to store and manage power on site. The market expansion aims to take that model to new regions beyond Texas.

The signal: The round ranks in the top quarter of comparable deals by size, a sign of investor appetite for storage as AI reshapes power demand. As data centers strain grids, batteries are becoming a foundation of how buildings and utilities manage electricity.

Image credit: Generated with Gemini