Zitara raises $12M Series A for battery management

Zitara, a Bay Area-based developer of battery management software, closed a $12 million Series A round, led by Energy Impact Partners.

Why it matters: Battery durability and longevity can be unpredictable, especially with new chemistries and in different applications. Zitara is among the growing number of startups that say they can reduce that uncertainty — and increase profits.

Details: Existing investors NextView Ventures, Collaborative Fund, and Trucks VC participated in the round.

How it works: Zitara's software leverages machine learning to analyze battery safety, reliability and lifespan.

• The company is eyeing customers in the e-bike, utility-scale storage, EV, and even low-Earth orbit satellite segments.
• "How predictable those batteries are is what’s in the way of greenlighting investment," Zitara co-founder and CEO Shyam Srinivasan tells Axios.

Zoom out: Battery companies raised more than $17 billion in corporate investment alone last year, more than 2.5x what they raised in 2020.

Yes, but: There remain deep concerns about battery fires. The New York City Housing Authority, for example, this month proposed a ban on storing e-bikes indoors, following a deadly e-bike battery fire that killed two people.

• "The safety algorithms we have today, developed really during the cellphone era, can’t detect simple things like water getting into the battery, or vibrations," Srinivasan tells Axios.

What's next: Zitara makes money by offering its software as a SaaS or on a per-device basis.

• The company is anticipating the greatest growth in utility-scale energy storage, propelled in part by the Inflation Reduction Act's standalone investment tax credit for energy storage.