Swedish startup Rivus Batteries secures €0.5M from xista science ventures, NAVCAP AB, and EIT InnoEnergy to fast-track the deployment of its metal-free battery technology. The company aims to halve the cost and climate footprint of grid-scale energy storage by replacing heavy metal-based electrolytes with organic electrolytes in new flow batteries.
Rivus Batteries, a climate tech startup developing novel organic flow battery technologies, announces a €525,000 infusion of capital that will help the company to scale-up its electrolyte production and install their first full scale pilot batteries with customers.
Batteries are needed to store renewable energy – it's not always windy when you want it to be, and the same applies to the hours of sunshine. Rivus’ idea is for gigantic batteries to be placed at solar and wind farms: “Our vision is to add a critical element to Europe’s energy transition away from fossil fuels to predominantly renewable energy”, says Dr Cedrik Wiberg, Rivus’ founder, and CEO.
The fresh capital comes primarily from two new investors: xista science ventures from Austria and NAVCAP from Sweden. EIT InnoEnergy also follows-up on their earlier investment in Rivus. In addition, the company has secured two projects with the Swedish Energy Agency and a spot in the new Vinnova Deep Tech Accelerator Program worth in total €545,000 to further develop its solution.
"We are entering an exciting growth phase, and the capital injection helps us take rapid steps towards the market. Metal-free batteries are urgently needed to help cover the rapidly growing demand for energy storage.” says Andreas Kölling, Rivus’ Chief Operating Officer.
There is a race going on globally in this sector: while no one has yet launched a commercial product, and American startups receive massive support in the USA, Rivus has developed its technology in stealth mode in Sweden. The company is close to completing its first pre-commercial product in its lab at the Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg.
The increased need for electricity combined with ever increasing renewable energy production and an increasingly uncertain electricity supply has put energy storage into the centre of the energy transition. The advantages of Rivus’ solution are many, says CEO Dr Cedrik Wiberg:
"As our batteries are non-flammable and non-corrosive, they are very safe. The raw material will never run out, and our solution becomes cheaper and greener the more we scale up, in contrast to today’s batteries that rely on scarce metals that need to be mined and imported.”
Dr Alexander Schwartz, partner at xista science ventures, adds: “The combination of technological progress that Rivus made with initially very limited resources in an important and potentially game-changing field, as well as the excellent team, made Rivus such an attractive investment for us.”
Rivus expects to reveal its first full-scale prototype in the second half of 2024 and strives for a wider market release during 2025.
Press Contact:
Andreas Kölling, Chief Operating Officer
+4676 301 29 16, andreas@rivus-batteries.com
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About Rivus Batteries
Rivus develops aqueous organic electrolytes for flow batteries. Instead of filling flow batteries with salts of heavy metals, such as vanadium imported for example from China and Russia, the batteries are filled with organic materials that can be easily synthesized from standard bulk chemicals that are available in unlimited quantities. Rivus was founded in 2019 as a spin-off from Chalmers University of Technology and uses technology that was further developed during research at the University of Turku and the Technical University of Denmark. To know more, please visit www.rivus-batteries.com
About xista science ventures
xista science ventures is a venture fund specializing in visionary science start-ups and academic spin-offs. With a profound grasp of both scientific and investor perspectives, they stand out as an unparalleled partner to support founders in realizing their deep-tech ideas and building scalable enterprises. xista is part of the innovation ecosystem at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA). For further information, please visit www.xista.vc
About EIT InnoEnergy
EIT InnoEnergy is ranked as Europe’s top impact investor in cleantech in 2022, named in 2023 as a top 10 active deep-tech investor by Sifted, and recognised globally as the most active sustainable energy investor. EIT InnoEnergy backs innovations across the entire cleantech sector and provides support, funding, and resources to startups and businesses, aiming to accelerate the transition to a more sustainable energy landscape in Europe and beyond. For more information, please visit www.innoenergy.com
About NAVCAP AB
NAVCAP is an investment firm that invests in Swedish industry as well as start-up companies at an early stage with the aim of getting new business ideas and operations established on the market.