Anzu Partners closes $200m storage & clean tech fund

Anzu Partners, a US investment firm that provides capital and strategic support to early-stage technology companies, has raised more than $200 million at the close of its third venture capital fund, which will focus on investments in sectors such as energy storage, battery manufacturing and electric vehicle charging.

The fund was established to invest in companies developing “next-generation solutions in clean technology, industrial innovations, and life sciences”, a statement said. Investors in ‘Fund III’ include new and returning public and private institutions, single and multifamily offices, and “accredited investors” across the US and overseas.

The fund has deployed $123.1 million to 12 companies across the following sectors:

Clean Tech

• AM Batteries is developing a dry coating process for Li-ion battery electrode materials that enables significantly lower cost, manufacturing footprint, and CO2 emissions in battery manufacturing.
• e-Zinc utilises zinc metal for its long-duration energy storage system, which has the potential to be more cost-effective than comparable lithium-ion systems.
• South 8 Technologies is pioneering a new category of battery electrolytes, utilising liquified gas to enhance the safety, performance, and operating temperature range of li-ion batteries in energy storage systems and electric vehicles.
• Xendee develops distributed energy resources (DER) planning and operation software for microgrids for electric vehicles and fast-charging infrastructure projects.
• XGS Energy plans to dramatically increase the scalability of geothermal energy while eliminating the need for large volumes of water with its closed-loop heat harvesting technology.

Industrial

• Arduino is a global leader in open-source hardware that is forging the next generation of IoT, automation, and industrial controls products for enterprise applications, leveraging its substantial community of more than 30 million developers worldwide.
• EnCharge AI is unlocking the full potential of AI from the edge-to-cloud using its robust and scalable in-memory computing technology, enabling broader and more sustainable deployment of computer vision and generative AI products.
• Opscura protects operational technology (OT) against security threats to ensure continuity for manufacturing, transportation and renewable energy providers with vulnerable legacy products.
• Voxeljet is a pioneer of 3D printing solutions, used by the automotive, aerospace, engineering, and consumer goods sectors.

Life Sciences

• Codetta Bio is a multiomics technology company using its integrated platform of reagents, hardware, and software to improve research and development of new therapies.
• CytoTronics uses semiconductor microelectrode array technology in a microplate format to study cell function in real time, at single-cell resolutions, revealing novel insights at scale.
• ‍MedCrypt provides cybersecurity software for connected medical devices, such as insulin pumps, scanners and monitors, to demonstrate compliance with security regulations.