Just a year ago, Moxion Power closed its doors and added its name to the list of famous bankruptcies that shook the world of Climate Tech in 2024. The launch of portable batteries raised over $110 million to replace diesel generators at festivals and construction sites, but still wasn’t enough to pass through the Valley of Death. Moxion fired more than 400 employees and their assets were liquidated.
Now, startup co-founder Paul Huelskamp and several former Moxion employees have returned to another startup, Anode Technology Company, hoping to achieve the same goal.
“We started the anode with the goal of finishing what we started,” Huelskamp, now CEO of Anode, told TechCrunch.
Anode operates quietly, but now appears with $9 million in seed funds. The round was led by Eclipse, and its partner, Jiten Behl, was at the forefront of the deal, but was previously Rivian’s chief growth officer.
Behl’s interest in the space was sparked by his experience with Rivian, who once agreed to sell 100,000 electric delivery vans to Amazon. However, businesses quickly realized that the problem was not the cost of the van, but the charging infrastructure.
“We need a mini power plant to charge 150 vans, and that infrastructure is not present in the depot,” says Behl.
In a pinch, many fleets rely on diesel generators. For example, we found out that Waymo uses them at a depot in San Francisco. “What businesses are actually looking for is a grid-independent solution that can provide flexibility,” added Behl.
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Other companies like Shine and Power Sonic use mobile batteries to provide EV charging, but Huelskamp claims that Anode’s integrated hardware stands out. The company has designed inverters that work in targeted markets, including EV charging, construction sites, and live events.
Anode’s mobile battery is slightly smaller than the Moxion’s 600 kilowatt-hour unit, making it easier to load into a flatbed truck, he said.
“We optimize at the lowest cost of supplying energy. What drives the cost, can we put energy behind the truck? How many trucks do we need? How many drivers do we need? How many trips do we need?” Huelskamp said. “A small footprint and low energy can mean more energy on the back of a single flatbed truck. That’s a bit counterintuitive.”
“Frankly, there are a lot of these types of requirements that we didn’t appreciate at Moxion.”
New startups use contract manufacturers to create batteries. This is an important difference from Moxion, who tried to do it all in-house. “One of the main lessons I learned is that it’s really hard to take on (manufacturing) as a startup,” Huelskamp said.
For Behl, these lessons helped him to attract investment. “As an investor, I’m already making money by ensuring those learnings are not paid,” he said.
EV charging depots could be an emerging market, but construction and live events are more established industries. Many rent-powered fossil fuel generators now. It’s costly and isn’t as efficient as a large power plant. According to Huelskamp, its inefficiency gives the Anode an opening. “We charge batteries per 1 kilowatt-hour per 3, 4, 5 cents, and the industry is used to paying a few dollars per kilowatt-hour,” he said.
Huelskamp said Anode uses AI to optimize operations such as charging and delivery. Ultimately, it should reduce costs close to equality along with electricity from the grid, but not as low as off-peak prices.
“Over time, I think if we expand our operations, generate all this efficiency, reduce the cost of delivered energy, and take advantage of the continuous reduction in battery costs, we’ll approach the cost of power we get from the grid,” Huelskamp said.
