e-Zinc Secures USD $25 Million in Series A Financing to Advance Long-Duration Energy Storage

April 07, 2022 09:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--e-Zinc, the company enabling sustainable, long-duration energy storage with its zinc-air battery, announced today that it has raised USD $25 million in Series A financing led by Anzu Partners, with additional funding from BDC Capital, Toyota Ventures, and Eni Next. Existing investors, including Seed Round lead investor Energy Foundry, also participated. e-Zinc will use this funding to commence the pilot production of its first commercial energy storage systems for field deployment.

As reliance on intermittent renewable energy increases across the world, there is higher demand for long-duration energy storage assets that enhance the reliability and resiliency of renewable energy assets. e-Zinc recently validated that its zinc-air battery can discharge energy for several days at rated power, compared to only a few hours for most other battery types. Paired with renewable energy sources, e-Zinc's battery can enable a 100 percent renewable energy future.

In the near-term, e-Zinc aims to displace diesel generators as low-emission alternatives for half-day to five-day backup power use cases. e-Zinc's battery can also be paired with renewable energy generation to replace the need for fossil fuels in remote or off-grid applications. For example, e-Zinc is partnering with the California Energy Commission to show how e-Zinc's battery can power businesses through multi-day outages caused by natural disasters such as wildfires, earthquakes, or floods.

"Since raising seed funding in 2020, we have refined our technology and achieved many critical technical milestones, such as demonstrating how our system pairs to solar and grid generation, developing the Balance of System (BoS), and implementing a software and controls layer," said James Larsen, CEO of e-Zinc. "With this Series A financing, we now have the opportunity to execute high-value commercial pilot projects that provide in-field validation for our batteries."

e-Zinc's Series A investors include leading firms that will serve as valuable partners and advisors to drive growth for the company. Toyota Ventures will provide guidance to help e-Zinc scale its manufacturing and supply chain efforts. Eni Next is the corporate venture capital vehicle of Eni, one of the world's largest energy companies with renewable energy assets across the globe where e-Zinc can potentially deploy its technology. Anzu Partners and BDC Capital offer deep technical, investment, and operational expertise that will assist e-Zinc in developing its business strategy and commercializing its technology.

'Anzu sees tremendous potential in zinc-air batteries to support renewable energy in both on- and off-grid applications,' said David Michael, Managing Partner at Anzu Partners. 'We are enthusiastic about e-Zinc's vision for a renewable energy future, and we look forward to supporting the company to demonstrate the value of its technology in real-world settings.'

'While it is clear that electrification has a key role to play in our journey towards decarbonization, we must ensure that there is an ample and affordable supply of clean energy to the grid,' said Lisa Coca, partner, Climate Fund at Toyota Ventures. 'Despite solar and wind deployments being on track to hit record highs, it is critical to address the issue of intermittency, which is why we are excited to support e-Zinc. The company's innovative battery architecture decouples energy from power to enable cost-effective, long duration energy storage – bringing us one-step closer to a zero-carbon future.'

'We are very excited to partner with e-Zinc, a company developing an innovative, viable, impactful technology for long-term energy storage with multiple applications. This investment reaffirms our commitment in the energy transition with an increasing development of renewable energy assets and our active involvement in the long-term energy storage space, which we regard as a key enabler for the electrification and the decarbonization of the global energy production," said Gabriele Franceschini, Chairman and CEO of Eni Next.

For more information, visit www.e-zinc.ca.

About e-Zinc

e-Zinc is a zinc-air battery company based in Toronto. The company's energy storage system can be up to 80 percent less expensive than comparable lithium-ion systems for long-duration applications. Importantly, its energy storage system can operate in cold and hot climates, and is made of abundant and recyclable materials. www.e-zinc.ca.