French cleantech startup PowerUp claims that its technology is designed to make the management of lithium-ion batteries more reliable while extending their lifetime. Now, this startup announced that it has raised €5M funding to grow across its home market France and the rest of Europe.
€5M investment from Supernova Invest
PowerUp has raised €5M funding from Supernova Invest (its historic investor), business angels, and the EDF Group. This new investment underlines the company’s ambitions to play a part in the energy and ecological transition, strengthen its leadership position in France followed by Europe and North America, and accelerate its growth by hiring 25 new employees. Also, it marks the debut of a new era, which equips to PowerUp tackle the energy storage systems sector and the entry into the new international market.
Josselin Priour, CEO and Co-founder of PowerUp, says, “With this fundraising round, PowerUp is entering a new era. In 2021, we will be embarking on a phase of increased production, and this capital will support our growth. In addition to securing our leadership position in France, we aim to grow our business in Europe and North America. Behind this growth lies a real need: more than ever before, we need to increase the lifetime of our batteries to ensure greener energy production.”
Improves lifetime of batteries!
Founded in 2017, PowerUp’s breakthrough technology is claimed to optimise the performance and lifetime of lithium-ion batteries. As the use of the battery is growing exponentially, users are forced to replace batteries early as a preventive measure and create a genuine ecological issue. As per the company, it is committed to bringing about more reliability and sustainability in the management of battery fleets.
PowerUp diagnoses and measures the health of batteries and is claimed to increase their lifetime by up to 100%. This is possible via dynamic changing based on the battery’s health, use and environment. Also, it predicts the battery’s lifetime as per the usage scenario, thereby ensuring timely replacement. This solution is targeted at all manufacturers and operators using batteries under power-cycle or backup power applications. It is already under trials with major groups including SNCF Réseau, EDF, Schneider Electric and Crédit Agricole Nord Midi-Pyrénées, the startup will debut production in 2021.
Partnership with EDF R&D
Furthermore, the funding marks a partnership between PowerUp and EDF R&D. The partnership is intended to accelerate the development of more effective algorithms that predict and diagnose battery health. As a result, EDF R&D will bring its test facilities and expertise that will be put to use in large stationary storage systems.
Main image picture credits: PowerUp