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State of Energy Tech Q2’22 Report

  • July 27, 2022
  • July 27, 2022

Energy tech funding and deals continue to fall but remain elevated relative to recent years.

Global energy tech funding dropped for the second straight quarter to hit $7.5B in Q2’22. While this marked a 24% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) decline, funding was only down 3% year-over-year (YoY) and remained elevated compared to pre-2021 levels. Similarly, deal count also took a QoQ hit but stood as the fourth-highest figure in recent years.

In contrast to the broader funding free fall in energy tech and beyond, the grid & utility sector saw funding rise to reach 2021’s year-end total ($2.2B) just halfway through 2022. The largest rounds in the space went to Agilitas Energy ($350M), Arcadia ($200M), and Mainspring Energy ($150M).

Grid and utility tech annual funding chart. The chart contains the amount of funding raised by startups in the space so far in 2022 ($2.2B) as well as a projected funding amount for year-end 2022 ($4.4B). Notably, this amount surpasses 2021's total ($3.1B).

Below, check out a few highlights from our 159-page, data-driven State of Energy Tech Q2’22 Report. For deeper insights, all the record figures, and a boatload of private market data, download the full report.

Q2’22 highlights across the energy tech ecosystem include:

  • China-based companies saw funding fall 52% QoQ to reach $348M, marking a 91% decline from the record $3.9B raised in Q3’21.
  • A record amount of funding flowed into the oil & gas tech space, on the other hand, with startups raising $1B across 24 deals.
  • Quarterly $100M+ mega-round funding declined for the third consecutive quarter to hit $4.5B, a 55% drop from its $9.9B peak late last year.
  • While oil & gas tech mid- and late-stage deal share grew in the first half of 2022, early-stage deal share was down 11 percentage points from last year and 24 from its 2019 heyday.
  • Seven new energy tech unicorns (nearly one-third of the total herd) were born in Q2’22. The unicorn club now includes Beta Technologies ($2.4B valuation), Crusoe ($1.8B), and Arcadia ($1.5B).

Energy tech unicorn count chart. This chart depicts that 7 new unicorns were born in Q2'22, which is equivalent to nearly one third of the new total unicorn count (24).

Download our Q2’22 State of Energy Report to learn more about all these trends and more.

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