Smart home battery firm Moixa has raised £1.5m in equity funding to boost its growth in the UK and abroad.
Japan’s largest utility Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) and First Image! Ventures participated in the equity round.
Lady Barbara Judge CBE, chairman of the Institute of Directors and Athene Capital, also invested and will join the firm’s international advisory group.
The company also received a £1m loan facility from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and says it will use this money to open a regional sales and delivery centre in the city.
Simon Daniel, CEO of Moixa, said: “Smart home batteries are transforming our electricity system, saving money for households and communities and supporting a cost-effective, reliable, low-carbon network.
“ We are developing solar plus storage solutions for social housing that will help councils tackle fuel poverty and we look forward to collaborating with Greater Manchester and supporting the low carbon energy transition in the Northern Powerhouse region.”
Hirokazu Yamaguchi, executive general manager, global innovation and investments at TEPCO, said the company had developed a “robust battery storage and smart-energy sharing platform”.
It’s estimated that solar panels typically cut household electricity bills by up to 30% and thought that batteries can increase savings by up to 20% by enabling consumers to store the free energy generated during the day for use at night.
Lady Judge said Britain was seeking to be a world leader in battery technology, “and Moixa is well positioned to seize opportunities in a rapidly emerging global market”, she added.
The investor went on to note the firm had “unrivalled experience in the UK … and is working at the cutting edge pioneering the use of smart batteries in virtual power plants to cut costs and carbon in our electricity system”.
But Moixa is not without competition. The news comes after Scotland-based firm Dukosi topped up its Series A round with an additional £2m in March, drawing investment from the Scottish Investment Bank, IP Group Plc and venture capital firm Par Equity.
Dukosi specialises in battery management systems and leverages wireless technology to increase the efficiency of batteries used in electric vehicles.