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Ambient Photonics, a low-light solar photovoltaic cells company, <a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/ambient-photonics-secures-30-million-series-a2-funding/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">secured</a> $30 million in a series A2 funding round. The round was led by Fine Structure Ventures, affiliated with the parent company of Fidelity Investments, and included new investors Helios Climate Ventures, Regeneration.VC, and Sustainable Future Ventures. Existing investors I Squared Capital, Ecosystem Integrity Fund, and Cthulhu Ventures also joined the round.
REC Limited, a public infrastructure finance company, <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/rec-1-25-billion-finance-power-infrastructure-logistics" target="_blank" rel="noopener">raised</a> $1.25 billion in August and September 2023 from a consortium of six banks and through a Foreign Currency Term Loan Agreement. The company raised $1.15 billion in two tranches from a consortium of six banks. The financing proceeds are expected to go towards funding power, infrastructure, and logistics sector projects as permitted under the External Commercial Borrowings guidelines of the Reserve Bank of India.
Zenobē, a global fleet electrification and battery storage solutions company, has <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/zenobe-secures-fleet-and-battery-storage-expansion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">secured</a> approximately £600 million (~$643.9 million) in funding from KKR, an international investment firm. The company also received an additional infusion of around £270 million (~$289 million) in equity, which has been contributed by Infracapital, an existing shareholder. Pending the fulfillment of standard closing requirements and regulatory authorizations, KKR and Infracapital are set to become co-majority stakeholders in Zenobē.
Ascend Elements, a lithium-ion battery recycling and engineered materials company has <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/ascend-elements-battery-materials-production-in-us" target="_blank" rel="noopener">raised</a> $542 million in new equity investments. The funding includes $460 million from its Series D investments and an additional $82 million from earlier this year. The Series D round was led by entities such as Decarbonization Partners, Temasek, and the Qatar Investment Authority. The newly acquired funds are expected to drive the construction of Ascend Elements’ Apex 1 facility in Hopkinsville, Kentucky.
florrent, a company developing high-energy density ultracapacitor technology, <a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/ultracapacitor-startup-florrent-raises/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">secured</a> $2.1 million in a pre-seed round led by MassVentures, with participation from MassMutual Catalyst Fund, AIN Ventures, Tale Venture Partners, NextFab Ventures, Boston Impact Initiative, and others. The company plans to use this investment to validate performance improvement in commercial form factor cylindrical cells and scale material production capacity.
Ostrom, an energy management solution provider, <a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/energy-management-startup-ostrom-gets-funding/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">raised</a> $8 million in funding in an investment round led by SE Ventures along with existing investors Union Square Ventures, Adjacent, J12, and Übermorgen. The funding round extends the company’s Series A funding to $18 million, bringing the company’s total funding to over $23 million. The additional funding will be used to further expand the company’s product offerings, most notably in home storage and solar solutions.
For reports and trackers on funding and M&amp;A transactions in solar, energy storage, and smart grid sectors, click <a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/funding-and-ma-roundup-battery-developer-altris-raises-5-2-million/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.
Read last week&#8217;s funding <a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/funding-and-ma-roundup-solar-urbanvolt-raises-million/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">roundup</a>.

Funding and M&A Roundup: Ambient Photonics Secures $30 Million Series A2 Funding

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					</table>From: <a href="https://mercomcapital.com/funding-and-ma-roundup-ambient-photonics-secures-30-million-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mercom Capital Group</a>
Ambient Photonics, a low-light solar photovoltaic cells company, <a href="https://mercomcapital.com/ambient-photonics-secures-30-million-series-a2-funding/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">secured</a> $30 million in a series A2 funding round. The round was led by Fine Structure Ventures, affiliated with the parent company of Fidelity Investments, and included new investors Helios Climate Ventures, Regeneration.VC, and Sustainable Future Ventures. Existing investors I Squared Capital, Ecosystem Integrity Fund, and Cthulhu Ventures also joined the round.
REC Limited, a public infrastructure finance company, <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/rec-1-25-billion-finance-power-infrastructure-logistics" target="_blank" rel="noopener">raised</a> $1.25 billion in August and September 2023 from a consortium of six banks and through a Foreign Currency Term Loan Agreement. The company raised $1.15 billion in two tranches from a consortium of six banks. The financing proceeds are expected to go towards funding power, infrastructure, and logistics sector projects as permitted under the External Commercial Borrowings guidelines of the Reserve Bank of India.
Zenobē, a global fleet electrification and battery storage solutions company, has <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/zenobe-secures-fleet-and-battery-storage-expansion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">secured</a> approximately £600 million (~$643.9 million) in funding from KKR, an international investment firm. The company also received an additional infusion of around £270 million (~$289 million) in equity, which has been contributed by Infracapital, an existing shareholder. Pending the fulfillment of standard closing requirements and regulatory authorizations, KKR and Infracapital are set to become co-majority stakeholders in Zenobē.
Ascend Elements, a lithium-ion battery recycling and engineered materials company has <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/ascend-elements-battery-materials-production-in-us" target="_blank" rel="noopener">raised</a> $542 million in new equity investments. The funding includes $460 million from its Series D investments and an additional $82 million from earlier this year. The Series D round was led by entities such as Decarbonization Partners, Temasek, and the Qatar Investment Authority. The newly acquired funds are expected to drive the construction of Ascend Elements’ Apex 1 facility in Hopkinsville, Kentucky.
florrent, a company developing high-energy density ultracapacitor technology, <a href="https://mercomcapital.com/ultracapacitor-startup-florrent-raises/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">secured</a> $2.1 million in a pre-seed round led by MassVentures, with participation from MassMutual Catalyst Fund, AIN Ventures, Tale Venture Partners, NextFab Ventures, Boston Impact Initiative, and others. The company plans to use this investment to validate performance improvement in commercial form factor cylindrical cells and scale material production capacity.
Ostrom, an energy management solution provider, <a href="https://mercomcapital.com/energy-management-startup-ostrom-gets-funding/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">raised</a> $8 million in funding in an investment round led by SE Ventures along with existing investors Union Square Ventures, Adjacent, J12, and Übermorgen. The funding round extends the company’s Series A funding to $18 million, bringing the company’s total funding to over $23 million. The additional funding will be used to further expand the company’s product offerings, most notably in home storage and solar solutions.
For reports and trackers on funding and M&amp;A transactions in solar, energy storage, and smart grid sectors, click <a href="https://mercomcapital.com/funding-and-ma-roundup-battery-developer-altris-raises-5-2-million/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.
Read last week&#8217;s funding <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/funding-and-ma-roundup-urbanvolt-raises-28-million" target="_blank" rel="noopener">roundup</a>.

<a href="https://ambientphotonics.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ambient Photonics</a>, a low-light solar photovoltaic cells company, secured $30 million in a series A2 funding round. The round was led by Fine Structure Ventures, affiliated with the parent company of Fidelity Investments, and included new investors Helios Climate Ventures, Regeneration.VC, and Sustainable Future Ventures. Existing investors I Squared Capital, Ecosystem Integrity Fund, and Cthulhu Ventures also joined the round.
Ambient will leverage the funding to expand its manufacturing capabilities and drive mass-market adoption of its low-light energy harvesting technology, which aims to replace disposable batteries in connected devices, such as remote controls, keyboards, mice, electronic shelf labels, and sensors.
The company&#8217;s technology revolves <a href="https://ambientphotonics.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Ambient-Photonics_Technology-Overview_022523.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">around</a> the usage of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). Ambient cells use an electrochemical system in which light-sensitive dye molecules harvest and produce energy. The solar cell dyes function in much the same way that chlorophyll behaves during photosynthesis, converting photons into energy according to the company&#8217;s technology brief.
&#8220;High-power, low-cost energy harvesting is an important prerequisite for electronics in line with consumer electronic companies&#8217; environmental targets. Ambient&#8217;s tech is poised to redefine how we power connected devices and directly reduce e-waste and the harmful effects of single-use batteries,&#8221; said Dan Fishman, General Partner at Regeneration.VC.
&#8220;We recognize that disposable batteries and the toxic waste they create present an urgent problem for our planet,&#8221; said Jesse Johnson, Managing Director and Partner at Helios Climate Ventures.
Ambient&#8217;s technology was originally developed at the Warner Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry and funded at inception by Cthulhu Ventures. The company is currently working with global electronics manufacturers to deliver embedded solar cells across a range of disposable battery-powered devices.
According to Mercom&#8217;s 1H and Q2 2023 Solar Funding and M&amp;A <a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/product/1h-q2-2023-solar-funding-ma-report/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Report</a>, In 1H 2023, global VC funding activity rose 3% YoY, with $3.8 billion in 33 deals compared to $3.7 billion in 53 deals in the first half of 2022.
Caelux Corporation, a company developing perovskite-based solar technology to enhance module efficiency, <a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/perovskite-based-solar-tech-firm-caelux-raises-series-a-funding/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">closed</a> a $12 million Series A3 funding round, bringing the total Series A funding raised to $24 Million.

Ambient Photonics Secures $30 Million Series A2 Funding

<a href="https://ambientphotonics.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ambient Photonics</a>, a California-based low-light solar photovoltaic cells developer, has secured $17.5 million in debt financing for its U.S. solar manufacturing facility. The financing was provided by the Silicon Valley Bank and Trinity Capital, which added to the company’s previously announced equity investment of $31 million, raising the combined equity and debt funding to $48.5 million.
The debt financing lenders now join Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, Ecosystem Integrity Fund (EIF), Cthulhu Ventures, Tony Fadell’s Future Shape, and I Squared Capital in support of climate-friendly U.S. manufacturing. This financing further supports Ambient’s plan to open the world’s largest low-light solar cell production facility, based in the U.S., to scale low-cost, high-power solar cells to the mass IoT market for the first time.
“We know that securing such significant Series A funding is a testament to Ambient’s potential to create a more sustainable, connected world,” said Ambient CEO Bates Marshall. “By putting debt capital to work from leading lenders like SVB and Trinity Capital, along with the equity capital already raised this round, we will establish the U.S. as a major center of energy harvesting technology manufacturing.”
“SVB is proud to work with startups like Ambient who bring together innovation and talent to solve the world’s most pressing issues. We are excited to support their continued growth and build out of a factory that will create U.S. jobs with global impact,” said Jordan Kanis, managing director of climate technology and sustainability at Silicon Valley Bank.
“Ambient’s rapid growth and progress toward high volume production is as equally impressive as their technology, and we are excited to support their journey in bringing more manufacturing to the U.S.,” said Ben Malcolmson, director of equipment finance at Trinity Capital.
In <a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/opdenergy-closes-debt-facility/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">July</a>, Opdenergy, an independent renewable energy producer, closed a €250 million (~$254 million) debt facility for issuing new senior bonds with EIG, an investor in energy and infrastructure sectors, and Generali Global Infrastructure (CGLI).
According to Mercom’s recently released 1H and Q2 2022 <a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/product/1h-q2-2022-solar-funding-ma-report/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a>, solar debt financing activity in 1H 2022 was $5 billion in 30 deals, a 39% lower compared to $8.2 billion in 32 deals in 1H 2021.

Ambient Photonics Closes on $18 Million Debt Financing

<a href="https://ambientphotonics.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ambient Photonics</a>, a low-light solar photovoltaic cells manufacturer, raised $31 million in a Series A funding, led by <a href="https://sustainability.aboutamazon.com/about/the-climate-pledge/the-climate-pledge-fund" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amazon</a> via its <a href="https://sustainability.aboutamazon.com/about/the-climate-pledge/the-climate-pledge-fund" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Climate Pledge Fund</a> and <a href="https://eif.vc/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ecosystem Integrity Fund</a>.
Tony Fadell’s <a href="https://www.futureshape.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Future Shape</a> and <a href="https://www.isquaredcapital.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">I Squared Capital</a> were the other participants in the funding.
Ambient intends to use the funding to build the world’s largest U.S.-based low-light solar cell production facility with a fully automated production line and capacity for tens of millions of units per year.
The company claims its low-light energy-harvesting photovoltaic technology generates as much as three times more power than conventional technology, harvesting energy across the entire light spectrum – including both artificial and natural light. The company has also partnered with IoT and smart home device partners, like Universal Electronics, to help eliminate disposable batteries or reduce rechargeable battery mass.
Commenting on the financing, Ambient CEO, Bates Marshall, said, “The future of IoT and connected devices is energy harvesting, and that future requires massive scale. This financing empowers us to deliver our industry-leading technology to some of the world’s highest-volume IoT device manufacturers with a significant decarbonization impact. We’re opening up entirely new possibilities for products that are designed from the ground up from more sustainable energy sources.”
Ambient plans to continue to progress its Part II application for a $162 million loan guarantee under the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Title XVII Loan Guarantee Program to scale its production facilities. The facilities will generate hundreds of local jobs while contributing to transformative reductions in Scope 3 emissions.
Matt Peterson, director of The Climate Pledge Fund at Amazon, said, “Disposable batteries are both a consumer inconvenience and a significant environmental problem. We are excited that through The Climate Pledge Fund, we will invest in Ambient to help in their path toward creating innovative solutions to decrease the carbon footprint of battery-operated devices across industries.”
In April this year, Amazon <a href="https://mercomindia.com/37-renewable-energy-projects-to-power-amazon/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> 37 new renewable energy projects worldwide, including solar, wind, and battery integrated projects, totalling 3.5 GW of clean energy capacity, in line with its target to achieve 100% renewable energy to power its operations by 2025.
According to Mercom’s <a href="https://mercomcapital.com/product/q1-2022-solar-funding-ma-report/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Q1 2022 Solar Funding and M&amp;A Report</a>, global VC funding for the solar sector in the first quarter (Q1) 2022 came to $1.2 billion in 26 deals, a 45% decrease compared to $2.2 billion raised in 19 deals in Q4 2021. Year-over-year funding was 19% higher compared to Q1 2021.

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