Bipolar lead-acid battery developer Advanced Battery Concepts (ABC) has closed its Series B growth equity round with an investment from Nuveen, the $1 trillion global investment arm of asset management firm TIAA.
The undisclosed sum will help ABC, which develops and licenses technology related to its bipolar GreenSeal® Technology, to move to the next stage of growth and help it build relationships in ‘new markets and geographies’.
Jon Joslin, ABC’s cheif financial officer, told BEST the first investment of the fund further solidified advanced lead batteries ability to solve many of the world’s energy storage needs.
He said: “The funds will be used to target key industry segments to showcase GreenSeal’s ability to participate in markets that traditionally lead has not had much success in, such as grid storage and LSEV. Our ability to have higher energy density with longer life and lower cost, while still being 100% recyclable, enables us to provide the key storage devices that have been lacking in the grid storage industry till now.
“We will be not only working with our existing licensees to target these markets, but new licensees who are interested in the GreenSeal technology. In order to be successful, we will be adding additional equipment and staff to ensure our success both in these target markets and the traditional markets our licensees are currently developing products for.”
The investment was the first from the Nuveen Global Impact Fund, a private equity vehicle formed earlier this year to make direct investments in high growth companies that seek to address climate change and contribute to inclusive growth.
Dr. Edward Shaffer, founder and CEO of ABC, said: “We are delighted to have gained support from a global investor like Nuveen. Its impact expertise, and network, will be critical for our next stage of growth, helping us build relationships in new markets and geographies.
“We look forward to working together to support the world’s energy storage needs.”
The Fund represents the most recent extension of Nuveen’s historical private impact investing efforts, through which more than $1 billion has been deployed over the past decade.
The investment in ABC supports the Fund’s focus on companies that improve resource efficiency.
David Haddad, co-head of Nuveen Private Impact Investing, said: “If we are to tackle global sustainability challenges like climate change, we need to learn to live within our means. ABC’s technology improves the performance, cost, and resource intensity of lead-acid batteries while preserving full recyclability.
“We believe high-performing lead-acid batteries will play an important role as electrification continues globally.”