Michigan-based battery firm Our Next Energy (ONE) announced the completion of a $300 million Series B investment round, bringing the three-year-old business’s valuation to $1.2 billion.
Our Next Energy is now among the most highly valued, privately held battery companies in the U.S. This is due to their successful latest round of investment, which was spearheaded by renowned investors, Franklin Templeton, and Fifth Wall. The last round of funding has exponentially increased their value and given them the boost they needed to compete with the top players in the industry.
ONE makes battery prototypes
Mujeeb Ijaz, CEO of ONE, recently confirmed they’ve begun providing prototype versions of their Aries I battery pack to multiple businesses for testing purposes. This updated technology allows for more efficient use of lithium iron phosphate cells. Production on the Aries II model will begin at an upcoming factory in Van Buren Township, Michigan sometime next year.
Ijaz reported that the plant’s initial capacity of 2 GWh will increase over the next two years (10 GWh by 2026 and 20 GWh by 2027). The facility will constitute a prototype line for ONE’s dual-chemistry Gemini cells in 2026, as well as Aries II, packs down the line.
Ijaz reported that the plant’s initial capacity of 2 GWh will increase over the next two years, reaching 10 GWh by 2026 and 20 GWh by 2027. The facility will constitute a prototype line for ONE’s dual-chemistry Gemini cells in 2026, as well as Aries II, packs down the line. These cells and packs will be critical to ONE’s goal of providing a complete battery solution for its customers, from raw materials to finished products.
ONE is expanding
As a result of customer demand, Ijaz has noted that the business is deliberation over whether to create another building on the Van Buren site, as well as exploring the necessity for a second store. ONE also negotiates with possible North American-based suppliers of battery raw materials for the business and its clients benefiting from the incentives provided by the Inflation Reduction Act. Currently, the company is only one of two in North America with the capacity to manufacture its anode and electrolyte solutions. They are the only ones with the ability to produce a complete battery system in-house. The benefits of the act would provide the company with an incentive to invest in the expansion of their business, which the most recent round, Temasek, Coatue, Riverstone Holdings, AI Capital Partners, and Sente Ventures are among the investors.
Ijaz argues that these investors are more worried about the shift to electricity as a primary power source than they are about the current state of the economy. He believes that this change will drastically affect how they will feel society functions and that those effects century.
Because of this, Ijaz argues that these investors are more interested in long-term planning than in immediate gain. in The Series B financing included a previous $62.5 million convertible note with the help of BMW ventures, Assembly Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Volta Energy Technologies, Flex, and Coatue.