# Quino Energy

> Quino Energy is a clean-tech startup commercializing aqueous organic flow batteries that store electricity in water-soluble quinone molecules instead of vanadium or lithium. Spun out of Harvard University in 2021, the company makes a low-cost, non-flammable organic electrolyte - derived from inexpensive coal-tar dyestuff chemicals through a zero-waste, continuous-flow process - that drops into existing vanadium flow battery hardware. The result targets long-duration grid and commercial energy storage at roughly a quarter the cost of vanadium, with a degradation rate about ten times slower than lithium iron phosphate.

- **Founded:** 2021
- **Headquarters:** San Leandro, California, United States
- **Founders:** Eugene Beh (Co-Founder & CEO), Meisam Bahari (Co-Founder & CTO), Michael Aziz (Co-Founder & Scientific Advisor), Roy Gordon (Co-Founder & Scientific Advisor)
- **Team size:** Approximately 9-15 employees
- **Products:** Organic Quinone Electrolyte, Drop-in Flow Battery Systems, Electrolyte Supply to OEMs
- **Notable:** Spun out of Harvard's Aziz and Gordon labs in 2021 with an exclusive worldwide chemistry license, Reached Manufacturing Readiness Level (MRL) 7 for its electrolyte production, Built and operated a 100 kWh pilot system (plus 24 kWh and two 6 kWh systems) near Buffalo, NY

## Products & services

- **Organic Quinone Electrolyte** — A proprietary water-based battery active material made from inexpensive coal-tar dyestuff chemicals via a single-step, zero-waste, continuous-flow process. Roughly a quarter the cost of vanadium and 30-40% cheaper than LFP, with a degradation rate near 0.17%/year.
- **Drop-in Flow Battery Systems** — Complete DC flow battery systems pairing Quino's electrolyte with third-party (often vanadium-compatible) hardware, usable with standard carbon steel tanks and no critical or PFAS materials.
- **Electrolyte Supply to OEMs** — Bulk supply of organic electrolyte to other flow battery manufacturers, since the material is backward-compatible with existing vanadium flow battery hardware with minimal modification.

## Achievements

- Spun out of Harvard's Aziz and Gordon labs in 2021 with an exclusive worldwide chemistry license
- Reached Manufacturing Readiness Level (MRL) 7 for its electrolyte production
- Built and operated a 100 kWh pilot system (plus 24 kWh and two 6 kWh systems) near Buffalo, NY
- Demonstrated single-step, zero-waste, continuous-flow electrolyte manufacturing
- Won a $10M California Energy Commission grant for an 8 MWh project
- Raised about $31.85M total across equity and grants by late 2025

## Latest updates

- **2025-11** — Closed a $10M Series A led by Atri Energy Transition, with an option for $6M more, to scale organic flow batteries and build a 150-200 MWh electrolyte plant in India.
- **2025-06** — Announced a strategic partnership with TerraFlow Energy to pair its electrolyte with commercial flow battery hardware.
- **2025** — Awarded a $10M California Energy Commission grant for an 8 MWh demonstration and $5M from the DOE CiFER program toward a 5 MWh Southern California deployment planned for late 2027.
- **2024-03** — Hit a manufacturing milestone, ramping up production of its organic flow battery electrolyte formulation on a pilot line near Buffalo, NY.

## Links

- Website: https://quinoenergy.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/quinoenergy
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/quinoenergy
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/quinoenergy/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/quino-energy
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-13