Global smart grid funding up 36% to $1.9b in H1

Debt financing surged 267% from a year earlier.

Corporate funding for smart grid companies rose 36% year-on-year (YoY) to $1.9b across 41 deals in the first half of 2026, up from $1.4b raised through 48 deals in the same period last year, according to Mercom Capital.

Despite the increase in overall funding, venture capital (VC) investment declined 35% YoY to $711m across 34 deals in 1H 2026, compared with $1.1b raised through 41 deals in 1H 2025.

Smart Grid Communications companies attracted the largest share of VC funding during the period, followed by Smart Charging and Distributed Generation and Integration firms.

The largest VC deals in the first half were secured by SPAN, which raised $163m, alongside an additional $75m financing from Eaton.

Other major fundraisings included verse with $54m, metiundo with $48m, and InCharge Energy with $46m.

Meanwhile, debt and public market financing surged 267% YoY to $1.1b across seven deals in 1H 2026, compared with $300m raised through the same number of transactions a year earlier.

The increase was driven by larger financing deals completed in the first quarter of 2026.

Corporate mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity also strengthened, with seven transactions completed in the first half of 2026, up 75% from four deals in the corresponding period of 2025.