MGA Thermal recharges pre-Series B again with $200,000 from Electrifi Ventures

MGA Thermal has added climate tech fund Electrifi Ventures and Climate Salad to its cap table with another top up of the clean energy startup’s pre-Series B, taking the total raised to $14.15 million.

While the Hunter Valley startup, developed what it calls Miscibility Gaps Alloy (MGA) Blocks to absorb and store thermal energy made from renewable power, declined to disclose the size of the investment, it previously announced an initial $8.25 million raise in September 2023, followed by a further $5.7 million in April this year, implying the latest capital injection could be worth around $200,000.

In June, the federal government’s Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), also chipped in to triple its initial $1.27m investment in 2022 with a further $2.48m, providing nearly half of the startup’s $7.8 million thermal energy storage project.

MGA Thermal has now raised more than $31 million in total through funding and grants.

Other investors include CSIRO-backed VC fund Main Sequence, manufacturing investor Melt Ventures, clean tech investor JEKARA, Varley Holdings, New Zealand’s Climate Venture Capital Fund, Pollination Group and Understorey Ventures.

CEO Mark Croudace said the syndicate investment with Electrifi, in partnership with Mick Liubinskas’ Climate Salad, was completed in just a fortnight.

“In a landscape where funding accessibility remains the biggest hurdle for founders, the combined support of Electrifi Ventures and Climate Salad demonstrates the power of ecosystem collaboration in advancing climate innovation,” he said.

“This investment, alongside ARENA’s support, will accelerate the completion of our Demonstration Unit, advancing our mission to revolutionise industrial energy storage.”

The startup’s modular thermal blocks as seen as a critical solution for industrial electrification.

The concept is similar to coal-fired power, which uses that heat to produce steam and drive the generator turbines.

Last year the company began developing shipping container-sized demonstration unit that holds 3,700 of its thermal energy storage blocks. It would store enough energy to power more than 135 homes for 24 hours.

Steam-driven power produces nearly a quarter of Australia’s total energy demand.

MGA Thermal’s goal is to abate 30 million tonnes of CO2 by 2030 — the equivalent of more than 23 years of commercial flights from Sydney to LA.