Australia-based Amber Electric raises €49M to turn home batteries into a distributed energy network

Australia-based Amber Electric has raised €49 million in Series E funding, betting that the growing number of batteries in homes can become something much bigger: a distributed energy network capable of buying, storing, and selling electricity in response to grid demand.

The round was led by Morgan Stanley Investment Management’s 1GT climate private equity strategy, with participation from European energy group E.ON and existing investors ETF Partners and Innovation Victoria, the company announced on Monday. Reuters valued the financing at roughly $56.2 million. Amber said the round was nearly twice oversubscribed.

The Melbourne-based company plans to use the fresh capital to grow its Australian business and push deeper into Europe, where its partnership with E.ON gives it a foothold in one of the largest electricity markets outside its home country.

“This additional capital positions Amber to double down on our expansion across Europe,” said Chris Thompson, co-founder and co-CEO of Amber.

Amber’s pitch starts with a simple shift in how households use electricity. Customers get access to real-time wholesale electricity prices, and the company’s SmartShift software controls connected home batteries and electric vehicles. The system can charge batteries when renewable electricity is plentiful and prices are low, then sell stored electricity back to the grid when prices climb.

That turns the economics of a home battery on its head. Instead of sitting in a garage primarily as backup storage or holding excess rooftop solar, the battery can become an active participant in the electricity market.

One battery is a product. Thousands become infrastructure.

That distinction helps explain why investors are putting more money behind Amber.

The company says its software now manages more than half of Australia’s automated home batteries, giving Amber a large testing ground for an idea utilities across Europe are beginning to pursue: coordinating thousands of small energy assets rather than relying solely on centralized generation.

“This additional capital positions Amber to double down on our expansion across Europe,” said Chris Thompson, co-founder and co-CEO of Amber.

“We’ve built the winning energy automation platform in Australia, and this funding will enable us to extend our leadership across Europe. Our partnership with E.ON is already showing what’s possible, and we’re excited to build on that momentum with more partners across the region.”

That European relationship has already moved beyond a pilot. Amber’s technology is used in Next Optimize, E.ON Next’s smart energy tariff and battery and EV automation offering, launched in March 2026 and now available to battery and solar households across the UK.

Amber is pushing the model further through vehicle-to-grid technology, or V2G. Early customers can sell electricity stored inside their EV batteries back to the grid during periods of higher demand.

“We are pleased to partner with Chris and Dan to help accelerate Amber’s next phase of development and support the broader transformation of electricity systems in Australia and Europe,” said Vikram Raju, Head of Climate Private Equity Investing at Morgan Stanley Investment Management and 1GT.

“We believe the company’s innovative platform, talented team and clear strategic vision position it well to capitalize on the growing need for distributed energy solutions across global markets.”

The opportunity grows as battery ownership expands. A single household battery barely registers against a national electricity grid. Coordinate tens of thousands of them through software, and those scattered batteries can collectively store electricity when supply is plentiful and return it when the grid needs it.

That puts Amber in an unusual position between consumers, utilities and wholesale electricity markets.

Capital Brief estimates the company has now raised about A$209 million in disclosed equity funding. The next test is whether a model built in Australia, one of the most active markets for residential batteries, can translate across European electricity systems.

If it can, Amber may end up selling something far larger than home battery automation. It could turn spare storage capacity sitting inside houses and EVs into a new layer of the electricity grid.

Amber Electric Team