Amber Electric Raises €49m to Expand Battery Automation in Europe
Amber Electric has secured €49m in a Series E funding round led by 1GT, Morgan Stanley's private climate equity strategy. E.ON also participated in the investment, following a recent partnership with the Melbourne-based company.
"We’ve built a leading energy automation platform in Australia, and this investment gives us the backing to build on that leadership globally," said Chris Thompson, co-founder of Amber Electric.
The funds will be used to fuel Amber's growth and expansion into Europe (read this guide), according to Morgan Stanley Investment Management.
What Does Amber Do?
Founded in 2017 by Chris Thompson and Dan Adams, Amber Electric operates as an energy retailer in Australia, providing services directly to households. The company claims to hold more than 50% of the Australian market for automated batteries, making it the country's largest battery automation provider.
Its SmartShift software utilizes AI to optimize household storage and generation assets in real-time, including rooftop solar panels, home batteries, and electric vehicles. This allows customers to access wholesale electricity pricing and sell excess renewable energy back to the grid at competitive rates.
Investor Quotes
Vikram Raju, who leads climate private equity investing at Morgan Stanley Investment Management and 1GT, expressed enthusiasm for Amber's role in the global energy transition:
"As power systems become increasingly decentralized, energy flexibility and household-level engagement are essential to integrating renewable energy at scale."
The Larger Context
This investment follows a series of similar moves in the energy and AI space, with companies focusing on data center grid flexibility, flexible data centers, and data center power optimization.
In August, Emerald AI raised $150m for data-center grid flexibility, while Google and Nvidia formed an alliance on flexible data centers in September. Verse secured $54m in June for data center power solutions.
Amber Electric's focus on home batteries and grid services aligns with Australia's energy market trends, as outlined by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) in its August forecast on data center electricity demand through 2036.