Founded in 2018 by Andrew Ponec, David Bierman, and Justin Briggs to meet rising energy demand, the company just passed a major funding milestone, enabling it to accelerate its expansion of converting renewable energy into thermal energy stored in solid carbon blocks.
Antora Energy has secured $550 million in Series C funding to accelerate the deployment of its thermal battery technology for industrial facilities, data centers, utilities, and other major energy users.
The oversubscribed funding round was co-led by G2 Venture Partners and Eclipse. New investors included Ribbit Capital, Salesforce Ventures, Activate Capital, John Doerr, Westly Group, StepStone Group, and Liberty Mutual Strategic Ventures.
Existing Antora Energy investors Decarbonization Partners, Impact Science Ventures, Trust Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and Lowercarbon Capital also participated.
The San Jose, California-based energy storage company plans to use the capital to deploy additional large-scale projects, expand production capacity, establish a second U.S. manufacturing hub, and strengthen its domestic supply chain.
Antora Energy Targets Growing Power Demand
Antora Energy is addressing one of the most significant challenges facing American industry: access to affordable, reliable energy.
Manufacturing facilities, artificial intelligence infrastructure, and data centers are creating enormous new power requirements across the country. In many locations, the availability of electricity has become a limiting factor for industrial expansion and economic development.
“From factories to data centers, energy is the bottleneck to industrial growth,” said Andrew Ponec, co-founder and CEO of Antora Energy.
Ponec said the company has demonstrated that it can deliver energy quickly and at a massive scale while supporting American manufacturing.
The Series C financing follows Antora’s deployment of a five-gigawatt-hour battery storage system in South Dakota. According to the company, the project advanced from the beginning of construction to delivering energy in less than 12 months.
Antora is now building on that deployment model through a growing pipeline of agreements with hyperscale technology companies and industrial customers.
How Antora’s Thermal Batteries Work
Antora Energy’s thermal batteries store low-cost electricity as heat inside insulated blocks made from solid carbon.
The batteries charge when electricity is plentiful and inexpensive. The stored energy can then be delivered when customers need it as industrial heat, electricity, or both.
This approach allows Antora’s systems to provide energy around the clock and store it for multiple days.
The company’s factory-built battery modules can be used by organizations that have significant energy requirements. Examples include chemical plants, steel manufacturers, food producers, and data centers.
Unlike many conventional batteries, Antora’s technology does not depend on supply-constrained critical minerals. Its systems are made with safe and widely available materials. This potentially reduces supply-chain risks while allowing projects to be deployed more quickly.
The technology could also help large energy users add new operations without placing additional cost pressure on residential electricity customers.
Expanding U.S. Battery Manufacturing
A major portion of Antora Energy’s new investment will support domestic manufacturing.
The company recently expanded its San Jose factory into a three-building manufacturing campus. Antora describes the facility as one of the largest battery gigafactories in the United States.
Antora plans to establish a second U.S. manufacturing hub as it increases production. This will occur as the company serves customers across additional industries and geographic markets.
The company’s manufacturing and project deployments rely on a broad workforce. That includes welders, electricians, pipefitters, machinists, and construction professionals. Antora reports that its activities have already created or supported hundreds of American manufacturing and construction jobs.
“This financing unlocks a new phase of growth for Antora,” said Nehali Jain, vice president of strategy and growth at Antora Energy.
Jain noted that the company opened its U.S. factory in 2024 and recently activated one of the world’s largest battery storage projects.
Scaling a New Model for Energy Storage
Investors backing the Series C believe Antora has moved beyond the technology-development stage. It is also now demonstrating an ability to manufacture and deploy energy infrastructure rapidly.
Joe Fath, partner and head of growth at Eclipse, said Antora has the team, technology, and execution capabilities to become a foundational part of America’s energy infrastructure.
Jake Tauscher, partner at G2 Venture Partners, said Antora is already delivering projects at scale, within budget, and on the accelerated timelines required by customers.
Antora Energy is positioned to expand its thermal battery deployments while helping manufacturers, data centers, and utilities meet growing demand for reliable, around-the-clock energy.
