Mercom Capital’s annual M&A report showed huge gains in the energy storage industry. In a note on venture capital (VC) funding, Zinc-based Batteries were the 9th most invested category in energy. This funding was a total of $123M in 5 separate deals. “That such a variety of products can find this level of funding speaks to the rapid scaling of the industry”. While lithium still sees a majority of the dollars put into the energy storage industry, this diversifications proves the need for alternatives.This was a record year for non-lithium technologies. While we saw the lithium-ion supply chain tighten, and solutions to these issues showed long timelines, the need for non-lithium technologies is critical. Not only are we seeing a diversification in the technologies being funded, but also who is investing in them. There is a huge need for these batteries and the growth opportunity is immense. There will need to be many companies producing energy storage devices in order to handle the demand and that notion is being illustrated by the recent investment activity.