Hunter clean-tech company Allegro Energy aims to accelerate its battery manufacturing capacity after closing a $17.5 million funding round that attracted major domestic and international investors.
Allegro's Redox Flow Battery technology is water-based, making it a safer and more environmentally friendly option than other battery technologies.
The batteries contain no scarce materials and all key components are recyclable.
Allegro last week closed a $17.5 million Series A fundraising round backed by local investors including Origin, Melt Ventures, and Impact Ventures and global investors, led by The Grantham Foundation in the US.
Allegro's co-founder and chief executive Thomas Nann said the latest fundraising round would help the company rapidly accelerate its manufacturing capacity.
"We are thrilled to be among the companies to have been given global recognition by The Grantham Foundation while also successfully drawing critical local capital and strategic support from some of the leading names in the renewable energy space," he said on Sunday.
The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment was founded in 1997 by Jeremy and Hannelore Grantham, with the mission of protecting and improving the health of the global environment.
Grantham was joined in the Series A round by Chicago-based Lightbank.
"We welcome the opportunity to support this revolutionary technology which we believe is poised to change the conversation around clean storage and lead to a rapid adoption of cheaper, cleaner and more abundant energy," said The Grantham Foundation's Sam Lefkofsky.
Impact Ventures general partner Piers Grove said its investment would support the ongoing development of Allegro's "ground-breaking technology" following its early days with EnergyLab, Australia's largest climate tech startup accelerator.
Melt Ventures managing partner Trent Bagnall said Allegro's unique technology had enormous potential to revolutionise the way energy was stored.
"The storage of renewable energy is undoubtedly a huge challenge in the energy transition.The adoption of Allegro Energy technology will be critical to solving this challenge," he said.
Allegro and Origin expect to complete an 800 kilowatt hour pilot redox flow storage solution at Origin's Eraring site later this year.
