Hachiko, an optimisation software startup for industrial battery energy storage systems (BESS), has raised $2.5m in a Seed round.
The round was led by Archangel Ventures, with support from Twynam, Investible, Motion Capital, Electrifi Ventures, and Wattle Hill Capital.
The funding will help build technical and go-to-market teams as well as deepening and expanding platform capabilities.
While large-scale battery projects can take up to 6 years from concept to charge up to develop, commercial and industrial (C&I) BESS developments can be built in around two years, and in the last three, more than $4.5b has been earmarked for these kind of projects
Hachiko’s software, designed for C&I and similar-sized battery storage projects, is an optimisation portfolio management platform that enables users to double portfolio viability and deliver great that 75% revenue uplift across multiple energy markets.
Founder and CEO Rakhesh Martyn said the startup is giving renewable energy asset owners upsized returns with unique levels of intelligence, flexibility, and control.
“We’ve built ~4GW of utility-scale batteries since 2017, which makes the industry’s proposed 120GW in the next decade nothing more than a pipe dream,” he said.
“The C&I and broader distributed battery segment is moving faster than anything we’ve seen in the last decade, driven by an ~85% reduction in capex through that time. Project developers and investors need tools that match that pace. Take their capital and pipelines, give them Hachiko, and we’ll smash through the 120GW in no time at all.
“I’m so happy and proud of the team for the work we’ve done this year, and grateful to our early customers for the backing they’ve given us. We wouldn’t be here today without them, and they’ve enabled us to bring some truly world-class investors on board. Now we can really get on with it!”
Archangel partner Rayn Ong said the team had high conviction early, and as battery capex falls, connection pathways simplify, and investor appetite surges, C&I BESS is entering a period of unprecedented growth.
“When we met Rakhesh, we were very impressed. Every reference we ran across the energy and battery worlds came back incredibly positive,” he said.
“This is a blue-ocean opportunity and every asset in this segment will need a software layer to manage. Early signals are strong and the founder-market fit is obvious.”
The Sydney startup is based at the Greenhouse Climate Tech Hub.
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