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Estonian energy storage company Skeleton Technologies has secured a strategic investment led by industrial technology group Siemens, thereby taking its valuation above $1 billion. The company plans to use the funding primarily to expand US manufacturing and research as it develops power systems for AI data centres.
The company announced the investment, but did not disclose an exact round size. Chief executive Taavi Madiberk described it as a nine-digit round.
Skeleton plans to invest more than $200 million in operational scale-up and R&D in California, working directly with hyperscale data-centre operators. Its US plans also include domestic cell manufacturing, which would allow the company to supply both cells and complete systems from within the country.
Skeleton targets AI data-centre power demand
AI server clusters can move between power states in milliseconds, producing sudden changes in electricity demand. Skeleton says its high-power systems smooth those fluctuations near the computing equipment and reduce electrical harmonics. The company claims the systems can save up to 40% of energy and deliver double-digit improvements in GPU performance.
Skeleton pairs its proprietary graphene-based cells with power electronics and system-level controls. The material is designed to deliver power quickly, operate efficiently and last through many charge cycles. Its earlier pre-IPO fundraising also centred on scaling energy-storage products for AI infrastructure.
Siemens and Skeleton extend manufacturing ties
Siemens Digital Industries designed and automated Skeleton’s Leipzig SuperFactory in Germany, following Siemens’ support for the company’s expansion in 2023. The new partnership will combine Siemens’ electrical infrastructure business with Skeleton’s fast-response power systems to develop products for AI data centres. The companies say the work will cover power needs from the grid to the server rack.
“AI is scaling faster than the power infrastructure behind it,” Madiberk said. “The constraint is not how many GPUs you can buy, but how much compute you can extract from every GPU and every megawatt available.” Siemens executive Markus Grabmeier said the companies plan to deliver new data-centre products through manufacturing networks in Europe and the US.
The financing gives Skeleton capital to move production closer to its largest US AI infrastructure customers as it expands its manufacturing network across Europe and America.
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