Volt Harbor announced the closing of a $2 million seed financing round led by MFV Partners as the company emerges from stealth mode and accelerates commercialization of its patented MAC-BESS technology. The Ann Arbor-based company plans to use the funding to move from pilot projects to broader commercial deployments targeting both data center power infrastructure and grid-scale energy storage applications.
The company’s MAC-BESS platform is a modular, software-defined energy storage system designed to address growing challenges related to rising data center power consumption and aging utility infrastructure. Unlike conventional battery energy storage systems, Volt Harbor’s technology is modeled after computer networking architecture, allowing battery modules from different manufacturers and chemistries to coordinate and share power in real time through software.
Built on six patents licensed from the University of Michigan, the platform integrates battery storage, advanced power electronics, and onboard computing into a single system. The technology can be deployed using either new battery cells for high-reliability data center environments or second-life electric vehicle batteries for commercial, industrial, and utility-scale energy storage applications.
The company believes its unified architecture simplifies the traditional data center power stack by combining storage, power conversion, and switching capabilities into a single software-defined platform. This approach is intended to reduce integration complexity, shorten deployment timelines, and improve reliability for operators facing increasing energy demands driven by artificial intelligence and large-scale computing workloads.
Volt Harbor says its system delivers sub-100-microsecond energy response times and is designed to provide high levels of reliability without a single point of failure. The platform can also be tailored to meet site-specific requirements for data center operators seeking resilient power solutions.
For utility, commercial, and industrial customers, the company highlights the ability to utilize second-life EV battery modules at significantly lower costs than newly manufactured battery systems. By supporting batteries from multiple automakers and chemistries, Volt Harbor aims to create a practical reuse pathway for retired EV batteries while extending battery life through software-based battery management capabilities.
The company also emphasizes the environmental benefits of repurposing EV batteries. Rather than sending retired battery packs directly to recycling, where only certain materials are recovered, Volt Harbor’s approach seeks to extend their useful life in stationary energy storage applications while reducing demand for new battery manufacturing.
Volt Harbor was previously recognized as one of six recipients of the 2025 DTE Energy Emerging Technology Fund. Through its collaboration with DTE Energy, the company is deploying a MAC-BESS system designed to support high-power EV charging, demand response programs, peak shaving, and backup power services on the utility’s grid.
Founded in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Volt Harbor develops modular energy storage systems that combine batteries, power electronics, and onboard computing into a unified platform for data center, commercial, industrial, and utility applications.
KEY QUOTES:
“Energy storage and power electronics have always been treated as separate boxes. We’ve integrated them, along with on-board computing, into a single, software-defined product class. That combination is where the real performance, reliability, and cost advantages come from, and what data center and grid operators are looking for as they look to access more reliable power on a faster time scale.”
Dr. Al-Thaddeus Avestruz, President, CEO, and Co-Founder, Volt Harbor
“The next generation of grid-scale and data center storage will be defined by software systems, not hardware alone. Volt Harbor’s architecture is one of the few we’ve seen that genuinely meets that bar, and the team is going after the opportunity at exactly the right moment. Millions of EV batteries are about to reach the end of their automotive life, and Volt Harbor’s platform is well positioned to put them back to work at a cost point new-build systems can’t match.”
Karthee Madasamy, Managing Partner, MFV Partners
“These projects show what’s possible when public and private partners work together to reimagine mobility for everyone.”
Yvette Johnson, Vice President of Electric Sales & Marketing, DTE Energy
