Barclays invests in smart battery company, Brill Power

Barclays has made an equity investment in Brill Power, an Oxford University spin-out company with a mission to make batteries smarter, cleaner, safer and longer-lasting as a critical element of the shift to zero emissions energy. This is the 13th investment under the bank’s £175m Sustainable Impact Capital programme through which it is making strategic investments in innovative, environmentally-focussed businesses. 

Brill Power’s technology is a key enabler for battery systems in applications including commercial & industrial buildings, on and off grid energy storage, residential homes and electric vehicles in a market estimated to be worth $400 billion by 2030. Brill’s solutions are consistent with their new investor interests in partnering with enablers of clean energy generation, including intermittent renewables, as part of the wider shift to clean infrastructure, businesses and technologies.

Brill Power’s plans following investment round are threefold. The company will double its team size across both engineering and commercial operations, while expanding its product range for both static energy storage and for the world’s largest battery market – electric vehicles –  based on successful projects completed with Aston Martin, AMTE Power and Delta Cosworth. Finally, the funding will support the next phase in the development of the company’s data platform (BrillAnalytics) to help customers monitor and predict battery safety, health and performance data remotely.

John Bromley, Managing Director, Clean Energy at Legal & General Capital said, “As we grow our climate and clean energy platform, investing in Brill Power is an exciting move into energy storage technologies that are crucial to enable an increase of renewables on the power grid, electrification of transport, and to power our homes, businesses and key infrastructure. Through extended lifetimes, improved safety, and waste reduction, Brill Power’s work is setting a new standard for how to store and use clean power to accelerate progress to our net zero emissions goals.”

James Ferrier, Head of Sustainable Impact Capital at Barclays said, “Reliable and long-lasting storage solutions for renewable energy are going to be vital for a successful and orderly transition to a low-carbon economy. Pioneering technology, such as Brill Power’s battery management system, will play an important role and we are excited to be supporting them as they scale and extend their product range.”

Dr Christoph Birkl, Brill Power’s CEO said, “Thanks to our exceptional team at Brill, we have made great strides over the past two years. We have a ground-breaking commercial product in the marketplace and a pipeline of new developments and products to address the stationary energy storage and automotive markets. Our progress and our potential has attracted an impressive cadre of both existing and new investors. We are delighted to welcome Legal & General Capital and Barclays Sustainable Impact Capital on board while also enjoying the continued support of all our existing investors for the important journey ahead of us. We now have the means to act on the opportunity to offer the market a step-change in improvements for zero-emissions technologies – for the benefit of our investors, our customers and also the community we serve.”