• Antora Energy secured $550 million in an oversubscribed Series C round co-led by G2 Venture Partners and Eclipse.
• The company will expand U.S. production, establish a second manufacturing hub and accelerate large-scale energy storage deployments.
• Antora recently commissioned a 5 gigawatt-hour thermal battery project in South Dakota in less than 12 months.

Antora Energy has raised $550 million to expand its U.S. manufacturing base and deploy large-scale energy storage projects across industrial, data center and power markets.

G2 Venture Partners and Eclipse co-led the oversubscribed Series C round. New investors included Ribbit Capital, Salesforce Ventures, Activate Capital, John Doerr, Westly Group, StepStone Group and Liberty Mutual Strategic Ventures.

Existing backers also participated. They included Decarbonization Partners, Impact Science Ventures, Trust Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Lowercarbon Capital.

The financing gives Antora fresh capital as electricity demand accelerates across the United States. Data center growth, domestic manufacturing and grid electrification are placing new pressure on utilities, developers and energy infrastructure.

Antora plans to use the proceeds to deploy projects nationwide, expand production and establish a second U.S. manufacturing hub. It will also invest further in its domestic supply chain.

Energy demand becomes an industrial constraint

Antora develops thermal batteries that store low-cost electricity as heat inside insulated blocks of solid carbon. The systems can later deliver that energy as industrial heat or electricity.

The technology is designed to serve several markets through the same factory-built platform. Potential users include chemical plants, food producers, steelmakers, data centers and electricity networks.

Antora says its systems can store energy for multiple days. They also avoid many supply-constrained critical minerals used in conventional battery technologies.

“From factories to data centers, energy is the bottleneck to industrial growth,” said Andrew Ponec, Co-Founder and CEO of Antora. “Antora has shown we can help break that bottleneck—delivering energy fast, at massive scale, with American innovation. With this funding round, we’re continuing to strengthen our investment in U.S. manufacturing, delivering affordable energy across the country and around the world.”

The company’s expansion strategy comes as energy availability becomes a factor in investment decisions. Manufacturers and technology companies increasingly need faster access to firm power before approving new facilities.

For executives, the constraint is no longer limited to electricity prices. Connection queues, grid congestion, reliability and construction timelines can all influence project economics.

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South Dakota project supports scale-up case

Antora recently deployed a 5 gigawatt-hour battery storage system in South Dakota. The company said the project moved from initial construction to energy delivery in under 12 months.

It described the installation as one of the world’s largest battery storage projects. Antora is now seeking to replicate that deployment model through signed agreements with hyperscale technology companies and industrial customers.

“Antora has moved beyond proving the technology to demonstrating it can manufacture and deploy at remarkable speed and scale,” said Joe Fath, Partner and Head of Growth at Eclipse. “The Eclipse team has spent decades helping companies rapidly accelerate manufacturing and deployment, and Antora has the team, technology, and execution capabilities to become a foundational part of America’s energy infrastructure.”

Investors are increasingly focused on technologies that can move from demonstration to repeatable manufacturing. The ability to deploy on schedule and at predictable cost is particularly important for infrastructure customers.

“Our energy system is at an inflection point, and very few companies can meet soaring power demand,” said Jake Tauscher, Partner at G2 Venture Partners “Antora is meeting that demand today. They’re deploying at scale, on budget, and on the rapid timelines customers need. That’s how generational energy companies are built, and it’s why we’re proud to co-lead this round.”

Manufacturing expansion carries policy relevance

Antora operates a three-building manufacturing campus in San Jose, California. The company describes the site as one of the largest battery gigafactories in the United States.

Its workforce includes welders, electricians, pipefitters and machinists. Antora said its manufacturing and construction activities have created or supported hundreds of U.S. jobs.

“This financing unlocks a new phase of growth for Antora,” said Nehali Jain, VP of Strategy and Growth at Antora. “In 2024, we opened our U.S. factory, which is now one of the largest battery factories in the country. Earlier this year, we turned on one of the largest battery storage projects in the world. This funding round is how we deploy more projects, more quickly, across more sectors and geographies.”

The round connects energy security with domestic industrial policy. It also reflects growing investor interest in infrastructure that can support manufacturing, data centers and grid resilience at the same time.

Antora’s next phase will test whether thermal batteries can become a mainstream source of firm energy. Success would give U.S. companies another option for managing power costs, emissions and reliability while electricity demand continues to rise.