e-Zinc Raises $31 Million to Accelerate Development of Zinc-Air Battery Technology
e-Zinc, the company pioneering sustainable, long-duration energy storage with its zinc-air battery technology, today announced it has secured an additional USD $31 million in follow-on funding to its $25 million Series A round. This oversubscribed Series A2 round was spearheaded by Evok Innovations, with additional investments from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Export Development Canada (EDC), and Ultratech Capital Partners. The round also saw participation from e-Zinc’s existing shareholders, including Toyota Ventures, Eni Next, Anzu Partners, BDC, and Graphite Ventures. The new financing will expedite e-Zinc’s product development and support the completion of its 42,000 sq. ft pilot manufacturing facility in Mississauga, Ontario.
Massive amounts of renewable energy are required to enable a zero-carbon future. However, for renewable energy to become a baseload source of clean electricity, further investment in flexible and inexpensive long-duration energy storage solutions is critical. This funding will accelerate e-Zinc’s establishment of a manufacturing base that will enable commercialization of its long-duration energy storage solution, which promises lower cost and increased safety compared to conventional batteries.
e-Zinc is partnering with Toyota Tsusho Canada Inc. and the California Energy Commission to demonstrate how e-Zinc’s energy storage systems can reliably provide long-duration energy storage at commercial scale. By using this new investment to carry out these field demonstration projects, e-Zinc will validate that its zinc-air batteries have the capability to store 24 hours of energy, which is approximately 10 times that of traditional batteries.
“With this new investment, we are well positioned to transition to a production-oriented stage and focus on our operational excellence,” said James Larsen, CEO of e-Zinc. “Following the upcoming pilot demonstrations and the validation of our manufacturing processes, we will have proven the advantages of our innovative energy storage solution and the infrastructure needed to bring our proprietary technology to market at commercial scale.”
Jane Kearns, Partner at Evok Innovations, expressed her enthusiasm, saying, “e-Zinc has the potential to revolutionize the long duration energy storage market. The company’s ability to scale durations at very low cost sets it apart from competitors and makes it an extremely attractive solution for both off- and on-grid applications. Evok is excited about the company’s mission to accelerate the clean energy transition and enable a net zero future, and the Evok team looks forward to supporting the company as it works to achieve this mission.”
e-Zinc also recently expanded its executive leadership team with the addition of Rhonda Landers, Chief Financial Officer; Zakiul (Zaki) Kabir, Chief Technology Officer; Rob Howard, Chief Operating Officer; and Balakrishnan (Balki) Iyer, Chief Commercial Officer. Each brings a deep understanding of the energy technology industry and experience developing and scaling operations for innovation-led organizations, in addition to sharing e-Zinc’s commitment to leading the energy transition toward a zero-carbon future. Their combined leadership, along with this new financing, will allow e-Zinc to grow and advance from its product development phase to commercialization.