Moixa, a smart home battery startup, has raised £5 million and announced a partnership with Itochu Corporation, one of Japan’s biggest companies.
It means that Moixa will launch its GridShare platform in Japan’s rapidly growing battery market. The platform uses artificial intelligence to optimize performance of batteries, and can also manage solar power generation and control vehicle charging. It helps to save money on utilities since it adjusts usage patterns based on local weather and energy price.
Itochu plans to integrate Moixa’s GridShare into its battery product to help customers save more money on utilities, and to promote Moixa to other major energy storage brands it works with.
Founded in 2004, the startup raised £2.5 million last July from investors from Greater Manchester, which include Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Electric Power and First Vetu Ventures!
“Itochu is a major player in the global battery market and this partnership provides a real opportunity for us to expand our business in Japan and provide GridShare technology to global battery companies,” said Simon Daniel, CEO of Moixa.
Based in London, Moixa now has 33 employees and has installed 1,000 batteries in the UK. The company expects to sell more than 6,000 Smart Star home battery systems by the end of 2018.
The timing to enter the Japanese market is right. In Japan, the 10-year period for solar feed-in-tariff scheme will expire in 2019. This is expected to result in more consumers adopting self-generated power, solar systems and energy storage systems. From 2020, all new houses in Japan are required to meet net zero energy standards.
“Moixa’s GridShare will help our customers get more value for their home batteries and will offer solutions to help our partners manage Japan’s low-carbon transition,” Daniel said.
Moxia is also planning to expand into the U.S. and other countries in Europe this year.