Inlyte Energy: Reliable and affordable grid-scale batteries.
An electrical grid powered by low-cost and clean renewable energy requires a massive increase in energy storage.
Q & A with Inlyte Energy
- What motivated you to create your company?
I grew up on Oahu, an island with many people, and was always deeply aware that if pollution was not managed, our environment and our home would be destroyed. After learning about climate change I knew it would be my mission to accelerate our transition to clean energy. Over time I have concluded that energy is essential, and that the critical factor to transitioning the whole world to clean energy is having better economics compared with fossil fuels. Amazingly, solar and wind power have come far down in cost, but since they are intermittent they need very low-cost energy storage to be economic on an apples-to-apples basis. I spent 8 years in Stanford’s Materials Science & Engineering department looking for the lowest cost battery, ultimately concluding that the iron and salt battery was the best shot for diurnal grid storage–and that starting Inlyte Energy was my best bet in order to bring it to the world.
- Why did you choose to partner with Valo?
Valo’s commitment to investing for the future was the first critical factor. We are mission-driven and wanted partners with the same vision. At the same time, achieving an impact on the world’s energy structures requires us to achieve massive scale, which means we need partners who can really help us accelerate our path to market. Valo impressed us with their ability to help. We could see this from our first conversations with them. They asked keen commercialization questions, thinking through all aspects of our business, and were able to connect us to partners and potential customers even before investing. We are excited to be partnering with Valo as we execute on our vision.
