The Week in Deals
2 deals| Date | Deal Type | Tech | Seller / Sponsor | Buyer / Financier | Size | Location | Status | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 17 | Manufacturing Investment | BESS | Aspen Aerogels | Aspen Aerogels | $325M | GA | Announced | PyroThin EV battery thermal barriers (fire suppression). 500K sq ft; 250 jobs. Customers include GM. Project later cancelled (2024) but 2022 commitment was firm. | |
| Feb 16 | Strategic & Growth Capital | BESS | Antora Energy | Breakthrough Energy Ventures + Lowercarbon Capital (co-leads); Shell Ventures, BHP Ventures, Grok Ventures, Trust Ventures, Overture VC, Impact Science Ventures, Fifty Years VC | $50M | CA | Closed | Antora Energy Series A $50M co-led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures + Lowercarbon Capital. Thermal battery technology storing renewable electricity as 1,500°C heat for industrial process applications (cement, steel, petrochemicals). |
Change of Control
8 movesMike Mancini departed Energy Recovery, Inc. as Chief Financial Officer
Mancini steps down as CFO of Energy Recovery (NASDAQ: ERII) effective immediately, with the 8-K explicitly noting no disagreement with the company. Departure pairs with CEO David Moon's announced retirement intent — a tandem leadership reset at the Tracy, CA pressure-exchanger maker as it pivots into hydrogen, CO2 refrigeration, and wastewater-treatment crossovers.
Aidan Ryan named interim Interim Chief Financial Officer at Energy Recovery, Inc. (from Vice President of Finance, Energy Recovery, Inc.)
Ryan, 42, slides up from VP of Finance to Interim CFO at Energy Recovery — a fast-track for someone who joined only two years ago from Astranis Space Technologies (head of finance there). Compensation: $327,600 base, $12K/month interim stipend, $215K RSU grant. Wharton MBA / Michigan undergrad — likely a stalking-horse for the permanent role as the company runs a parallel CEO search.
Anthony Carroll joined as President and Chief Executive Officer at FTC Solar, Inc. (from Chief Executive Officer, Veev (Lennar subsidiary))
Carroll takes the helm at NASDAQ-listed solar tracker maker FTC Solar (FTCI), succeeding Yann Brandt. He arrives from Veev (a Lennar sustainable-homebuilding subsidiary) and previously ran Powin's battery storage business and a Siemens Gamesa managing director seat — a packaging of utility-scale storage and solar-supply-chain operating chops at a tracker maker still working to stabilize margins amid the polysilicon and tariff cycle.
Yann Brandt departed FTC Solar, Inc. as President and Chief Executive Officer
Long-time solar industry voice and former SolarWakeup co-host Brandt steps down as FTC Solar CEO after stabilizing the tracker business through industry headwinds. Anthony Carroll succeeds him effective April 29. With FTCI now restored to a steady-state operating posture, Brandt will likely surface next at another solar growth-stage platform; the SolarWakeup network keeps him highly visible in the industry talent market.
Vijay Singh joined as Chief Executive Officer at Greenskies Clean Focus (from Senior executive leading energy storage business build-out, NextEra Energy Resources)
Singh takes the helm at Greenskies Clean Focus (North Haven, CT C&I solar developer) succeeding Stanley Chin, with a stated mandate to scale solar growth and stand up a storage business as federal tax credits phase out. Singh previously launched and grew the NextEra Energy Resources energy storage group into a multibillion-dollar franchise — a hire that points squarely at solar-plus-storage as Greenskies' next phase.
Bret Turner joined as Managing Director, Project Finance at Stifel Financial Corp. (from Head of Project Finance (formerly head of SVB project finance platform), First Citizens Bank)
Turner anchors Stifel's brand-new project finance offering, reuniting with longtime collaborator Sayoji Goli. He built SVB into one of the leading US renewables lenders pre-collapse and carried the platform to First Citizens after the SVB acquisition. The lift-out re-forms the SVB renewables PF team at Stifel — a meaningful platform shift for renewables debt advisory, particularly for energy and deep-tech borrowers.
Sayoji Goli joined as Managing Director, Project Finance at Stifel Financial Corp. (from Project Finance (decade-long collaboration with Bret Turner), First Citizens Bank)
Goli moves to Stifel as MD alongside Bret Turner; the pair anchored the SVB-era renewables project finance team and stayed together through the First Citizens transition. Stifel's launch of a dedicated project finance offering with this team signals an ambition to capture renewables and deep-tech debt mandates as larger banks pull back.
Allan Riska joined as EVP, Tax Credit Investments and Chief Investment Officer at KeyState (SOLCAP platform) (from Chief Investment Officer, Renewable Properties)
Riska crosses from DG developer Renewable Properties — where he closed >$2B financing >1 GW of projects — to lead KeyState's SOLCAP platform, which connects community bank capital with mid-sized renewable energy projects ($1B+ deployed across 200+ projects to date). High-signal move as IRA transferability deal flow scales into mid-market and community banks become a meaningful tax-credit buyer base alongside the traditional money-center tax-equity lenders.
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