VFlowTech nets US$10M to take its vanadium-based redox flow battery to Japan, US, Turkey

VFlowTech, a vanadium-based redox flow (VRF) battery company in Singapore, has announced a US$10 million Series A funding round led by Japanese VC firm Real Tech Holdings.

Returning investors, including SEEDS Capital, Wavemaker Partners, and Sing Fuels, joined the round. Michael Gryseels (Chairman of VFlowTech), İnci Holding (Turkey), Pappas Capital (US) and Carbon Zero Venture Capital (Singapore) also participated. 

VFlowTech will use the funds to set up a 200MWh production line capacity and scale up the manufacturing of its 250 kWh modular vanadium-based long-duration energy storage solutions. 

Also Read: VFlow’s recyclable energy solution with an expected lifespan of 25 yrs seeks to replace Li-Ion batteries

A portion of the new capital will be used to expand into Turkey, the US, Japan and India. It will also intensify its R&D efforts to improve its technology, increase system capacity, and explore new markets. VFlowTech will also look to strengthen the management team in the next year.

V-Flow was established in 2018 by Dr Avishek Kumar (CEO) and Dr Arjun Bhattarai (CTO), in collaboration with Entrepreneur First, with generous support from SG Innovate and the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

It claims to develop the cheapest and most efficient modular VRF batteries, which deliver long-lasting, reliable energy storage solutions for renewable integration at an affordable price. VRF battery works through the continuous reduction and oxidation reaction between the vanadium redox couples with no detrimental issues and with the cross-mixing of the redox couples. Due to this setup, the electrolyte has no degradation and the battery provides stable performance over 20 years.

V-Flow’s storage solution has an expected life span of 25 years and is safe and environmentally friendly battery technology.

To date, VFlowTech has commercially deployed 30 kWh and 100 kWh units for residential applications and has completed the production of its MWh system for large-scale microgrid applications. 

Its renewable energy storage solutions have already been deployed to meet energy needs in various parts of the world through joint partnerships in Africa and Southeast Asia, with two batteries set to be deployed in Singapore’s Pulau Ubin this year. 

With a team of 60 people, the firm is also researching the expansion of flow batteries for terminal usage and running a two-year trial to explore scaling flow batteries using storage tank infrastructure.

“Advancements in renewable energy storage solutions will drive the acceleration of cleantech and help other industries come one step closer to meeting their sustainability goals. We already see increased demand for our batteries in creating infrastructure for electric vehicle (EV) charging, peak shifting of renewables, grid services, gated communities, telecom towers, and round-the-clock renewable energy integration,” said CEO Kumar.

Also Read: ‘Singapore isn’t ready for mass adoption of EVs yet; hybrid may be better for the present’

“Grid-level energy storage is critical in the transition to sustainable energy and is among our chief focus areas. VFlowTech is accelerating the transition to renewable energy while offering a solution to the current bottleneck in efficiency with its technology. With the signing of our binding framework agreement, we will also have the opportunity to popularise this technology in the Turkish market,” said Zeki Şafak Ozan, CEO and Board Member of İnci Holding.

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