Weekly funding picks, November 2–8: three energy deals
Return finances German grid batteries, Candi Solar signs a facility for Indian businesses, and 6K gets a conditional loan offer for a Tennessee cathode plant.
Return secured €835 million in portfolio financing on November 4, underwritten by Deutsche Bank and Rabobank. The framework lets it finance several German storage sites under one agreement. The first three, totalling 117 MW, are already under construction. Energy companies can contract for capacity across the sites without owning a battery themselves.
Candi Solar’s customers can buy power without buying panels
On November 5, Candi Solar signed a $50 million financing partnership with Pentagreen Capital, which manages the Green Investments Partnership. It targets approximately 400 MWp of solar and storage projects in India. Candi builds and operates the installations; business customers pay for the electricity generated rather than funding a system upfront.
6K gets a conditional loan offer for a Tennessee cathode plant
On November 5, the US Office of Strategic Capital conditionally committed up to $250 million for 6K’s proposed plant in Jackson, Tennessee. Final financing and disbursement depend on appropriations, due diligence and other approvals. The plant would use microwave plasma to make cathode material for lithium-ion batteries.
The three financing announcements
Sources
All rounds in this edition
| Company | Amount | Round | Sector · country | Investors | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hypersonica Hypersonica develops hypersonic deep-strike systems for European and allied defence customers. | €100M | Series B | Defense tech · Germany | Plural, Lightspeed (lead), 201 Ventures, General Catalyst (lead) | |
| Hyeglo Beauty Hyeglo Beauty is an Indian beauty brand combining makeup with skincare ingredients and selling tinted moisturisers, lip stains and cheek balms directly online. | ₹70M | Undisclosed | Consumer · India | Consumer Collective by Atrium, Sauce (lead), The Patient Capital, Arjun Purkayastha, Giga Capital | |
| ValueQuest Tristar Fund Indian private equity fund investing in advanced manufacturing, aerospace, defence and energy transition. | >₹21B | Commitments milestone | Industrial tech · India | ||
| I-PEC I-PEC provides building confirmation, inspection, housing performance assessment and energy conformity services in Japan. | Undisclosed | Strategic equity participation | Business services · Japan | JP Holdings | |
| nPhase nPhase provides software that connects clinical research data from collection through statistical analysis and regulatory submission. | $30M | Series D | Healthtech · United States | Viking Global Investors (lead) | |
| Atomic Software Atomic Software develops industry-specific business software, including the medicalforce platform for clinic operations. | ¥600M | Series C | Enterprise software · Japan | SBC Medical Group Holdings Incorporated | |
| Lingshu Zhifu Lingshu Zhifu develops flexible tactile sensing materials for robotics and consumer electronics. | Undisclosed | Seed | Hardware · China | Hubble Investment, Oriza Holdings | |
| Applied Compute Applied Compute provides an AI infrastructure platform for enterprises to train, deploy and continually improve models tailored to their own data and workflows. | $350M | Funding round | AI · United States | Kleiner Perkins, Hanabi Capital, Lux Capital, NVIDIA, Elad Gil (lead) | |
| Dispatch Network Dispatch Network provides delivery capacity and AI-based order orchestration for food, quick-commerce and other local businesses. | ₹50M | Pre-seed | Logistics · India | Antler India (lead), Krishi Fagwani, Yashin Mahadevia, Parth Modwadhia | |
| Roleo Roleo is a personal AI career agent that finds relevant jobs and connects technology professionals with employers across Europe. | €2.9M | Undisclosed | AI · Estonia | Practica Capital (lead), Inventure | |
| Bioliberty Soft robotics and therapy software for rehabilitation after neurological injury. | $3.3M | Series A extension | Healthtech · United Kingdom | Whiterock, TGH Ventures, 25m Health, Ballad Ventures | |
| OBSESS OBSESS connects people with sports venues, gyms, trainers, nutrition providers and fitness brands through a shared digital marketplace. | ~₹30M | Angel | Healthtech · India | Harshit Vij, Pushpendra Singh, Amit Goel | |
| Xinlian Power Xinlian Power develops and manufactures compound semiconductors and power modules for electric vehicles and AI infrastructure. | ~CN¥2B | Series C | Hardware · China | Vision Plus Capital, China Mobile Industrial Chain Leader Fund (lead), Yinhe Yuanhui, Sinopec Hydrogen Energy Fund, Xingyu Co., Ltd., Naura Novax Capital, IEIT SYSTEMS, CITIC Securities, Cathay, Konfoong Materials International, CITIC Goldstone, Puchao Capital, CCB Equity Investment Management | |
| LO:TECH LO:TECH provides market making, execution services and market data for institutional trading across traditional, digital and prediction markets. | $12M | Series A | Fintech · United Kingdom | MMC (lead), Lightspeed Faction, 13books Capital, Atka | |
| SANU SANU operates second homes in natural settings across Japan, offering shared ownership, subscriptions and individual stays. | Undisclosed | Refinancing | Travel tech · Japan | Startup Debt Fund II | |
| O-Health O-Health develops AI models and clinical hardware that help hospitals assess patients and prepare for consultations. | Undisclosed | Strategic funding | Healthtech · India | Varun Dua, BugleRock Capital (Singapore), Perpetual Capital, Sangita Reddy | |
| Smooth Smooth lets renters in Japan pay the initial costs of a tenancy in instalments. | Undisclosed | Loan financing | Fintech · Japan | Startup Debt Fund II | |
| Gallium Defense Gallium Defense develops radar systems for drone detection by armed forces and operators of critical infrastructure. | €7.1M | Seed | Defense tech · France | Keen Venture Partners (lead), Polytechnique Ventures, 360 Capital (lead), Omnes Capital | |
| Esonitro Esonitro develops flexible neural electrodes and brain-computer interface technology, including its movable NeuroWorm electrode. | ~CN¥100M | Angel+ | Healthtech · China | Nansha Qisheng, AGIBOT, Shunwei Capital (lead), GL Ventures | |
| Axial Aero Axial Aero develops flight simulators and digital terrain technology for military and commercial aviation training. | ₹510M | Series A | Defense tech · India | Rainmatter, Lucky Investment Managers |