Why Big Money Is Betting on Viridi Parente's Battery Revolution

Energy storage is about to become the next trillion-dollar frontier, and Viridi Parente just raised $94.695 million to prove it. The Series C round values the Buffalo-based company at $700 million—a statement of confidence from serious players like B. Thomas Golisano, Ashtead Group/Sunbelt Rentals, and National Grid Partners.

The Market Opportunity Everyone’s Missing

Here’s the gap that Viridi Parente is filling: while the world obsesses over electric vehicles (representing 3% of global GDP), battery technology designed for cars doesn’t work for industrial applications. Construction equipment, data centers, medical facilities, heavy machinery—these sectors need fail-safe, durable, resilient energy storage. That’s the 97% of the economy that’s been underserved.

According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, energy storage installations will surpass one gigawatt-hour by 2030, requiring over $262 billion in investment. North America’s portable lithium-ion market alone is projected to hit $205 billion by 2025. Sunbelt Rentals, with $11 billion in rental equipment fleet and 1,025 locations, sees the demand firsthand and is now betting on Viridi to scale production.

Two Brands, One Ambition

Green Machine targets portable applications—construction, waste disposal, last-mile delivery. The system has logged over 250,000 hours of real-world field use, proving the durability companies actually need.

Volta Energy tackles stationary systems for any environment: data centers, manufacturing, residential, commercial, medical facilities. Configurations range from 50 kWh to 5 MW of distributed storage. The key differentiator? Fail-safe design that works indoors, a capability powered by aerospace-grade thermal management technology sourced from KULR Technology Group—the same carbon fiber systems NASA uses for the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover.

Why the Timing Matters

National Grid’s involvement signals something bigger: decarbonization at scale requires rethinking industrial equipment, not just passenger cars. Brad Coverdale from Sunbelt emphasizes their customers need non-fossil fuel alternatives to meet carbon reduction commitments. Lisa Lambert from National Grid Partners puts it plainly—industrial vehicles generate massive greenhouse gases, and there hasn’t been enough focus there.

This funding round hits when market demand is already outpacing production. Golisano, the lead investor, described demand as “extraordinary,” making rapid scaling imperative. With established distribution channels from Sunbelt’s network and National Grid’s strategic backing, Viridi Parente has the runway to capture this emerging market before competition realizes what’s happening.

The broader play: point-of-use energy storage could more than double our entire energy transmission system’s delivered capacity without requiring new infrastructure investment. That’s not incremental—that’s transformational.