· Venture Capital Tracker · investment-strategies · 3 min read
Certain Energy’s £10M Series A: Manganese Flow Batteries for Grid Waste
British Business Bank led Certain Energy’s £10M Series A with Centrica, Ceres, and Temasek Trust C3H — Imperial spinout (ex-RFC Power) aiming at UK curtailment costs and an India MWh demo.
Certain Energy (formerly RFC Power) closed a £10 million Series A on August 26, 2026, led by the British Business Bank, with Centrica, Ceres Power, and Temasek Trust’s C3H. The Imperial College spinout is commercializing manganese flow batteries for long-duration storage.
Unexpected truth: the UK buyer problem is not “we need more solar.” It is paying wind/solar to switch off when the grid cannot absorb them — press cites ~£1.5B recent curtailment costs and a path toward ~£8B/year by 2030 if storage does not scale.
Key facts
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Company | Certain Energy (London / Imperial White City; CEO Tim von Werne; Exec Chair Mark Selby) |
| Prior name | RFC Power (founded 2017) |
| Round | £10M Series A |
| Date | August 26, 2026 |
| Lead | British Business Bank (£3.5M cited) |
| Participants | Centrica; Ceres Power Holdings; Temasek Trust C3H |
| Chemistry | Manganese flow battery; duration via tank size; company: ~20-year life, >75% RTE |
| Use of funds | Commercialization; India MWh-class grid-connected demo; UK R&D expansion; supply chain |
Who uses the product — and for what job
Users: utilities, energy majors (Centrica is literally on the cap table), and grids that need hours-to-days storage without rare-mineral vanadium dependence.
Job: store surplus renewables and discharge when generation is scarce — replacing or deferring gas peakers and cutting curtailment checks.
India MWh demo is the proof milestone; UK facility expansion is the manufacturing readiness milestone.
Why now
- Curtailment costs made LDES a fiscal/policy issue, not only a climate slogan.
- UK industrial strategy capital (British Business Bank) is willing to lead where pure venture still hesitates on hardware timelines.
- Strategic co-investors (Centrica, Ceres) bring offtake/tech adjacency that a solo VC syndicate cannot.
Why this syndicate — portfolio fit
- British Business Bank: Policy-aligned lead for homegrown LDES — minister framing is energy security and bills, not ARR multiples.
- Centrica: Potential future buyer/operator sitting on the cap table.
- Ceres: Fellow Imperial electrochemical franchise; CFO quote emphasizes abundant chemistry + capital-efficient manufacturing path.
- C3H (Temasek Trust): Catalytic climate/health capital for first commercial steps.
- Likely founder rationale: raise patient strategic + public-bank capital for demo factories, not a Silicon Valley growth fund that needs software margins by Series B.
No directory /fund/ pages for these investors.
Competitive map
| Player | Difference |
|---|---|
| Form Energy | Iron-air; U.S. manufacturing mega-round |
| Ore Energy | Earlier iron-air Series A peer |
| Emerald AI | Software load-flex — same grid bottleneck, no new batteries |
| Vanadium flow incumbents | Proven but electrolyte cost/supply constraints |
| Lithium-ion 2–4h systems | Wrong duration class for multi-day gaps |
Practical takeaway
- Founders (climate hardware): Pair chemistry claims with a named grid demo and a strategic offtaker on the round.
- Investors: Compare Certain’s £10M commercialization print to Form’s $750M factory print — same category, different maturity.
- Operators: Watch the India MWh system; that is the credibility gate for UK volume production.
Sources
- https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/articles/admin-services/enterprise/2026/imperial-energy-storage-spinout-certain-energy-raises-10m-from-investors/
- https://www.finsmes.com/2026/08/certain-energy-raises-10m-in-series-a-funding.html
- https://www.renews.biz/other-news/energy-storage/certain-energy-secures-10m-funding-for-battery-tech/
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