VFlowTech raises US$10 mil to expand global reach of renewable energy storage solutions 

• Oversubscribed round was led by Japan-based VC, Real Tech Holdings 
• Will to up 200MWh production capacity and scale up manufacturing

VFlowTech, a Singapore-based provider of vanadium-based redox flow batteries, has raised US$10 million (RM43 million) in a Series A funding round. 

Led by Japan-based venture capital (VC) firm Real Tech Holdings, the oversubscribed round was participated by returning investors ranging from corporate investors including SEEDS Capital, Wavemaker Partners and Sing Fuels to personal investors like Michael Gryseels (Chairman of VFlowTech), the startup said in a statement.  

New international VC and strategic investors including İnci Holding (Turkey), Pappas Capital (US) and Carbon Zero Venture Capital (Singapore) also participated in this round. 

VFlowTech will use the funds to set-up a 200MWh production line capacity and scale up the manufacturing of its 250 kWh modular vanadium-based long duration energy storage solutions. 

It will also use the funds to expand its market presence to Turkey, the US, Japan and India with new partners. 

Additionally, the company plans to intensify research and development efforts to further improve its best-in-class technology, as well as increase system capacity and explore new markets with emerging demand for sustainable energy storage solutions. 

To date, VFlowTech claims it has commercially deployed 30 kWh and 100 kWh units for residential applications and has completed the production of its MWh system for large-scale microgrid applications. The company which has a team of 60 people is looking to use the funds to strengthen the management team in the next year.

Dr Avishek Kumar, co-founder and chief executive officer of VFlowTech said advancements in renewable energy storage solutions will drive the acceleration of cleantech and help other industries come one step closer to meeting their sustainability goals. 

“We are already seeing increased demand for our batteries in creating infrastructure for electric vehicle (EV) charging, peak shifting of renewables, grid services, gated communities, telecom towers, and for round-the-clock renewable energy integration,” he added. 

“We are excited to bring our offerings into new and emerging markets where there is ample opportunity to help kickstart the energy transition,” Avishek said. 

Conventional energy storage technologies such as lithium-ion and lead acid batteries have limited functionality, are not environmentally-friendly and experience performance degradation over time. Meanwhile, standard vanadium redox flow batteries are costly, experience high parasitic losses, have poor round trip efficiency and are difficult to operate in tropical conditions. 

With its unique IPs and combined decades’ worth of experience in renewable energy, VFlowTech said it aims to overcome these long standing vulnerabilities through its modular vanadium redox flow-based energy storage solutions.

Louis Christian Murayama, director, Real Tech Holdings Singapore said the firm is pleased to support VFlowTech in its mission to produce renewable energy storage solutions that are not only advanced and efficient, but also sustainable and accessible. 

“This is a nascent but highly important industry that will lay the foundation for a greener future,” he said.

“We believe that VFlowTech has the potential to become a changemaker in this space, particularly with their expertise and unique IP,” Louis said. 

VFlowTech’s vanadium redox flow batteries, called PowerCubes, features a unique power stack design that enables a more compact design, a round-trip efficiency higher than the industry standard, reduced parasitic losses and effective operation in temperatures of over 55°C. 

This makes them one of the most economical and versatile renewable energy storage solutions in the market, the firm said.

Zeki Şafak Ozan, CEO and board member, İnci Holding said grid-level energy storage is critical in the transition to sustainable energy and is among his chief focus areas. 

“VFlowTech is accelerating the transition to renewable energy while offering a solution to the current bottleneck in efficiency with its technology - we are happy to invest in this innovation, which offers a long-lasting, efficient and safe solution to the rapidly increasing energy storage need,” he added. 

“With the signing of our binding framework agreement, we will also have the opportunity to popularise this technology in the Turkish market,” Ozan said.

VFlowTech’s market-leading renewable energy storage solutions have already been deployed to meet energy needs in various parts of the world through joint partnerships in Africa and Southeast Asia, with two batteries set to be deployed in Singapore’s Pulau Ubin this year. 

The company is also researching the expansion of flow batteries for terminal usage and running a two-year trial to explore scaling flow batteries using storage tank infrastructure.