Skip Technology has successfully raised $5 million to facilitate the grid-scale battery startup’s deployment of prototypes for field testing.
Based in Portland, Ore., the company is developing long-duration batteries powered by hydrogen bromine, as opposed to the conventional lithium-ion chemistry. Skip Tech’s batteries not only hold power for longer durations but are also significantly less flammable and use components that are readily available domestically, as stated by their team.
The company’s smaller batteries are designed to power offline operations like food trucks, while a set of approximately 10 shipping container-sized batteries could supply sufficient power for a large data center, according to co-founder and CEO Brennan Gantner. Companies such as Amazon and Microsoft are on the lookout for data center energy storage solutions to ensure clean power when wind and solar sources are not available.
Gantner mentioned that a data center “can go completely off-grid if they choose to.” He added, “We really tailor our solution to give them as much power as they want for a relatively low cost compared to lithium.”
The latest investment round is spearheaded by Puyallup Tribal Enterprises, which had also participated in a previous round. Skip Tech is collaborating with this Washington-based tribal organization to produce the batteries. Puyallup Tribal Enterprises is in the process of establishing a manufacturing facility south of Seattle to produce these devices.
Additionally, the startup has announced a new partnership with Continuous Solutions, another Portland-based company that will provide the electronics necessary to convert the DC energy generated by the battery into standard AC voltages, akin to electricity from wall outlets.
Founded in 2018, Skip Tech currently has 11 employees, with plans to hire a 12th. The headcount might double by the summer of next year.
Gantner and his co-founder Ben Brown are both astrophysics PhD holders, having met as graduate students at the University of Colorado. Brown is now an associate professor at the university, while Gantner was previously involved in co-founding a wind-power company.
Gantner explained that the basic engineering for the batteries is completed, and now the team is focused on refining the design to enhance performance. Skip Tech aims to reach large-scale production by the end of the decade, manufacturing thousands of batteries capable of electrifying entire metropolitan regions.
The climate sector has benefited significantly from billions of dollars in federal grants and tax credits sanctioned by the Biden administration, particularly supporting domestic battery production.
However, Gantner stated that Skip Tech should remain unaffected by President-elect Trump’s intentions to cut government support for climate initiatives. Given that all battery components can be sourced domestically, Trump’s proposed high tariffs on foreign products should only minimally impact them.
“We actually started this company during the first Trump administration,” Gantner said, adding that they have never been heavily reliant on government subsidies or fiscal aid for their market entry. While Biden’s policies helped stimulate the market, Trump’s return to office “is not a catastrophic change. It is not great, but we will be OK.”
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