Why Toniic members invested with Overture VC (Part 2/2) — SPV in Antora Energy’s $150M Series B
[Part 1 focused on Toniic members investing in the Overture Fund I. This second part highlights investments from Toniic members in an SPV into Antora, an Overture portfolio company, for their $150M Series B]
Heavy industry is one of the largest producers of global CO₂ emissions, contributing between 22% and 30% annually. Roughly 40 percent of these emissions are attributed to the combustion of fossil fuels to generate high-temperature heat for the manufacturing of goods including steel and cement. Until now, fossil fuels were the only option for delivering reliable, cost-effective, high-temperature energy to heavy industry. This is a $1.1 Trillion a year market.
The cost barrier is disappearing before our eyes. Wind and solar are now becoming the lowest-cost sources of primary energy on earth. However, one major barrier has continued to stand between cheap abundant renewables and meeting the continuous high-heat demands of heavy industry: Intermittency. Wind and solar powers are variable, whereas most factories run 24/7.
Antora
Antora has developed breakthrough technology to provide 24/7 zero-emission heat and power to heavy industry at a lower cost than fossil fuels. Antora’s thermal batteries are able to charge intermittently when clean renewable electricity is inexpensive and abundant and then store that energy in solid carbon graphite blocks for days, with minimal losses. Antora’s technology makes zero-emissions energy dispatchable and available for continuous future use.
Carbon graphite is cheap and among the most abundant commodities on Earth, with an existing robust supply chain. Carbon also has the unique property of getting better at storing energy as it gets hotter, making the material very attractive for Antora’s use case. The system is able to store thermal energy at temperatures up to 2400 degrees Celsius — hot enough to serve 99% of all industrial use cases — which is discharged as light (“radiative heat transfer”). Antora’s innovative thermal battery is able to deliver this useful thermal energy directly for industrial heat or steam generation, as well as convert the heat back to electricity by shining the light on proprietary thermophotovoltaic (TPV) panels, representing a core competitive advantage.
Antora has proven its technology with a pilot unit on-site in Fresno, California and is developing its first manufacturing facility in San Jose, California.
In February 2022, Antora announced their $50M series A round, co-led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Lowercarbon Capital. Other investors include Trust Ventures, Shell Ventures, Overture VC, Impact Science Ventures, Grok Ventures, Fifty Years and BHP Ventures.
Series B Funding
Second-largest Silicon Valley funding round of 2024
Antora recently announced their $150 million series B to scale up its manufacturing and commercial deployments of thermal batteries to deliver billions of dollars of zero-emissions energy to industrial customers. The round is led by Decarbonization Partners, a partnership between BlackRock and Temasek.
Other investors include Overture VC, Emerson Collective, GS Futures, The Nature Conservancy, Lowercarbon Capital and Breakthrough Energy Ventures.
This round is the second-largest Silicon Valley funding round of 2024 (to date) and takes the company’s total funding to $230 million.
Toniic, Overture and the Antora SPV
Antora has created a brilliantly simple solution to one of our most challenging carbon pollution problems, industrial heat. Without the collaborative spirit of the Toniic community, I wouldn’t have had enough time to fully evaluate the deal on my own
Overture previously invested in Antora’s Series A and Series A extension. As the firm decided to participate in Antora’s Series B, they also organized a special purpose vehicle (“SPV”) to enable its LPs and other interested investors to participate in the round.
After Overture’s successful participation in Toniic’s fund program for Overture Fund I (read our part 1 here), the team reconnected with Toniic for this SPV opportunity. With two Toniic members already in Due Diligence at the time, Toniic featured the SPV in our investment programs within only a few weeks of its final closing.
A deal summary was quickly sent and a call was promptly scheduled to share details of the SPV with the Toniic community, an engagement which resulted in 6 Toniic members committing to the SPV. A few of these private investors have shared their investment rationales in the testimonials below.
Tory Read :
“I invested in Antora because they’ve created a brilliantly simple solution to one of our most challenging carbon pollution problems — industrial heat (for making things like steel and concrete). Across my portfolio, I’m seeking both impact and financial returns. The moment I heard about Antora, I knew it held significant potential in both dimensions. The timeline to close was short, and the Toniic team worked into the holidays organizing calls for us while we members collaborated on due diligence. Without the Toniic team and the collaborative spirit of other Toniic members, I wouldn’t have had enough time to fully evaluate the deal on my own.”
Aymeric Thuault, Aude Lemogne, Hedda Pahlson-Moller and Cecile Sevrain also shared:
“Our co-investment strategy has had a focus on energy transition and decarbonization across the value chain, and we were impressed with Antora’s energy storage technology. Based on the calls set up by Toniic and follow up discussions with other Toniic investors, we understood the game-changing aspects were due to two key factors: first, it leverages a widely available material like graphite, and then they solve two key problems with one stone: allowing producers of renewable energy to optimise their revenue in times of negative pricing, while encouraging big industrial groups towards green energy.”
Rob and Ashley Craig:
“We were attracted to Antora’s mission of promoting climate sustainability and decarbonization through a unique combination of a new, innovative battery technology supported by renewable energy sources. Toniic introduced us to the investment, which included a highly reputable investment sponsor group. We also leveraged other Toniic members to discuss the opportunity and dive into the details of making an investment, both pros and cons. Those value-added discussions were super insightful and value-added.”
Another Toniic member said:
“We are always seeking opportunities to invest in ways that protect the earth or make our world a better, more equitable, place for all. That often means trading return or risk for impact, and we are very comfortable with that. But there is not always a trade-off. When Toniic introduced us to Antora, we were immediately intrigued. It seemed like one of those rare opportunities to have impact and market returns. At the same time, we are generally not comfortable making direct investments; we just do not think we have the time or the expertise to do so well. The ability to co-invest in Antora with a fund we respect and understand the fund’s investment thesis — neither of which would have happened without Toniic — and to access the thinking and due diligence of other Toniic members made a quick and efficient decision possible.”
Reflecting on Overture’s partnership with Toniic, Shomik Dutta, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Overture Climate VC, added:
“Toniic has been an amazing help. Great network of great investors. Thanks so much”
About Toniic:
Toniic is a global community of private asset owners seeking to steward wealth and use influence to enable a thriving world. Our members — more than 500 high net-wealth individuals, family offices and foundations from more than 25 countries — are active impact investors and philanthropists, for whom Toniic provides education, investment opportunities, impact support, events, and community. Toniic also seeks to build the field of deep impact investing, moving money and mindsets and leading by example.
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