Battery start-up raises $12 million as it prepares for ASX listing

RedEarth Energy Storage, which manufactures solar energy batteries and systems and the technology to let households act as virtual power plants, will list on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) next year after raising $12 million in an oversubscribed pre-initial public offering (IPO) funding round.

The round was led by wealth management group Ord Minnett Private Opportunities and included fellow Australian investment management firm Perennial Value and the Thorney Investment Group led by Alex Waislitz.

RedEarth co-founder and chief technical officer Chris Winter said the funds will be used to accelerate the Brisbane-based venture’s manufacturing, sales, and marketing efforts, as well as specific research and development to “finalise its electricity monetisation technologies” ahead of the planned listing.

“The way the world generates, distributes and uses electricity is undergoing fundamental change right now,” he said.

“RedEarth is at the forefront of that change with our fully vertically integrated offerings for both on-grid and off-grid customers.

“We plan to make significant reinvestments in additional research and development as RedEarth grows, to ensure the company’s products remain at the forefront of Australia’s growing sustainable energy needs.”

Founded in 2013 by Winter, the co-founder of ASX-listed RedFlow, and chief executive officer Charles Walker, an investment banker and former head of corporate development at RedFlow, RedEarth engineers and assembles modular solar battery solutions at its Brisbane facility.

RedEarth’s range of products for residential, commercial and industrial use includes the BlackMax integrated off-grid system which offers up to 12.3 kWh of storage and the grid-connected Sunrise home battery system which is available in storage capacities up to 26 kWh. Both are certified by the Clean Energy Council.

RedEarth has also launched a Personal Power Plant (PPP) as part of its plan to develop a network of linked solar batteries to form a self-powered community network or VPP, allowing customers to generate and sell, trade or gift their stored electricity to other users on RedEarth’s platform.

The company said it has already established a network of 1,000 systems “hardened in the field” and early trials show returns of up to 15 times those generated by solar feed-in tariffs.

“We are committed to our vision of continuing to empower our customers with new possibilities of not only saving money by switching to solar electricity but making money,” Walker said.

“This is unique in an industry dominated by partial foreign offerings.”

Walker said the company has experienced more than 60% quarter-on-quarter growth in revenue for the past 13 quarters, and investment interest has been high with the recent round being significantly oversubscribed.

Ord Minnett director Trent Donnelly said the wealth management firm was pleased to back RedEarth as it geared up to becoming a public company.

“The investment in RedEarth presents a unique opportunity to partner with an Australian business actively participating in the decarbonisation of the economy and offering customers the opportunity to take greater control, and to financially benefit from their investment in renewable energy,” he said.

“We look forward to continuing to support RedEarth on its growth journey.”

RedEarth has previously raised $8 million from investors, including $4.75 million in Series A funding from the state government’s Queensland Business Development Fund.