The Melbourne-headquartered battery automation company was boosted by Morgan Stanley’s climate tech fund, 1GT, alongside Innovation Victoria, E.ON., and the UK’s ETF Partners.
More than half of the automated residential batteries in Australia are powered by local energy innovator Amber. Now, that homegrown technology is illuminating homes – and grids -internationally.
“Amber’s technology was built in Australia, but the problem we’re solving is global. As more households install batteries, solar and EVs, energy systems around the world need better ways to coordinate those devices and reward households for the flexibility they can provide,” Amber co-founder Chris Thompson tells Forbes Australia.
Key to the service that Amber provides is clever technology that makes the most of one of life’s most precious resources: time.
“We use AI to automate how home batteries and EVs interact with the electricity grid, making thousands of decisions about when to charge, discharge and export energy based on what’s happening in the market and what each household needs,” says Thompson.
It’s a playbook that attracted the attention of US financial services firm Morgan Stanley, which led a $78.5 million Series E investment into the firm through its private equity climate investing arm, 1GT.
“We believe the company’s innovative platform, talented team and clear strategic vision position it well to capitalise on the growing need for distributed energy solutions across global markets,” says Morgan Stanley managing director Vikram Raju.
Existing investors Innovation Victoria, E.ON., and the UK’s ETF Partners, also participated in the round, which the company says will enable it to continue to scale.
“This funding gives us the ability to continue expanding internationally,” says Anderson. “We see significant potential across a number of markets, including the US, but we don’t have any specific US expansion plans to announce today.”
Australia’s largest residential V2G program
In EV parlance, V2G means vehicle-to-grid. Amber is rolling out the country’s largest V2G program, enabling BYD vehicle owners to power their homes with excess power generated by their cars, or make money by letting others use it.
“We’re already seeing what that can mean during price spikes. One of our customers, Sam in South Australia, made more than $700 in a single afternoon selling energy from his EV back to the grid,” says Thompson.
Amber’s partnership with BYD, known as SmartShift, has a waitlist of 8,000 people. The technology “uses AI to automate home batteries based on real-time wholesale electricity prices, household energy use, solar generation and customer preferences,” Thompson says.
“It decides when it makes sense to charge, use or sell stored energy, helping customers get more value from their battery without having to manage it themselves.”
That Australian-developed innovation is now also available to UK households, through a program called Next Optimise. ARENA CEO Darren Miller says Amber’s V2G program is facilitating “savings for owners and better utilisation of the grid, which can bring down the cost of the network for everyone.”
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