Funding for European energy storage startups has reached €2.14 billion ($2.48bn), underlining the sector’s growing role in renewable integration, grid resilience and energy security.
Avnet Silica, analysing Crunchbase data, has highlighted the scale of investment in energy storage startups across technologies and applications.
Equity funding for European firms manufacturing energy storage hardware for commercial, industrial and grid-scale use has now topped €2.14 billion ($2.48bn). Almost half (46.7%) of this has been raised in the past three years, with 84.4% secured in the last five.
Battery energy storage systems (BESS) attracted €331.8 million ($384.9m), with lithium-based technologies dominating. Li-ion accounted for €221 million ($256m), while lithium-sulfur drew €15 million ($17.4m). Mechanical storage, however, leads the market with €696.7 million ($796.6m) raised – more than double BESS – despite fewer players and limited commercial maturity.
Thermal energy storage (TES) secured €105.9 million ($122.8m), including €80.4 million ($93.3m) for sensible heat storage using materials such as glass, ceramic, gravel and salt. Latent heat storage gained €24.5 million ($28.4m), while €20 million ($23.2m) went to TES applications in industrial heat pumps, solar combinations and refrigeration.
Other technologies include supercapacitors (€18.4m/$21.3m), hydrogen storage (€73.7m/$85.5m) and power-to-X (€54.4m/$63.1m). EV charging with in-built ESS attracted €435.5 million ($505.2m), while portable storage startups raised €127.1 million. Supply chain-focused firms secured €259.4 million ($300.9m), with emphasis on next-gen battery chemistry (€113.2m/$131.3m) and cell/module production (€89m/$103.2m). Recycling startups added €19 million ($22m), supporting second-life battery use.
Harvey Wilson, senior manager industrial vertical markets EMEA at Avnet Silica, comments: “While there are some well-established players leading the way in energy storage, it’s exciting to see energy storage startups offering solutions to the multitude of energy storage challenges that exist within different industries.”
