Venture capital deployed · 2026 YTD
Sector market cap
Largest raise · trailing 12mo
Catalysts ahead · next 12mo
Companies tracked
Nothing on the calendar yet.
Round sizes have bifurcated sharply. The past 12 months show three $1B+ rounds (Base Power Series D, Crusoe Series E, X-energy IPO), versus seed/Series A median of $28–$87M. Mega-rounds ($400M+) now cluster densely in H2 2025, while early-stage capital remains scattered and smaller.
Late-stage dominance is unmistakable. Series D–G, Growth, and post-IPO rounds account for 68% of 2025 capital. Seed and Series A rounds totaled only $141M across 2024–2025, while Series E–G and mega-growth rounds exceeded $4.8B. Early-stage funding has effectively paused.
B Capital and Breakthrough Energy Ventures lead recurring syndications across battery and geothermal plays. Valor Equity Partners, Lightspeed Ventures, and new entrant Mubadala Capital emerged strongly in 2025. Traditional VC heavyweights (Khosla, Coatue) have gone quiet; strategic players (SK Inc., Devon Energy, Goldman Sachs) now dominate late-stage rounds.
Data centers are forcing a storage-first energy transition—but the grid may not be ready for it.
The grid-forming battery wave is outpacing policy—and that’s a risk for the energy transition’s next phase.
The AI power crunch is exposing a hidden fracture in the energy transition: grid resilience vs. manufacturing revival.
AI’s power demand is forcing a storage reckoning—but the real bottleneck is grid connectivity, not capacity.
As of 2026-08-01
Natron Energy ceased all operations effective September 3, 2025 after its board determined on August 27, 2025 that it could not secure sufficient funds for ongoing operations. The company filed an assignment for benefit of creditors, with Sherwood Partners liquidating assets via private sale. The collapse was driven by a >70% crash in lithium carbonate prices that undermined the sodium-ion value proposition, combined with delays in UL certification that prevented order fulfillment.
Sunnova filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy on June 9, 2025, burdened by $8.9B in long-term debt and only ~$13.5M cash. NYSE suspended trading and commenced delisting immediately. The bankruptcy court confirmed the Chapter 11 plan on November 10, 2025; substantially all assets were sold to Solaris Assets LLC for ~$118M and operations transitioned to SunStrong Management LLC. The plan became effective November 14, 2025 and the remaining estate is undergoing orderly wind-down.