ESS Tech, Inc. (GWH): History, Ownership, Mission, How It Works & Makes Money

Should you be paying attention to ESS Tech, Inc. (GWH) as the long-duration energy storage (LDES) market heats up? This company is a pure-play bet on iron-flow battery technology, a critical non-lithium alternative for grid stability that uses cheap, earth-abundant materials like iron, salt, and water.

To be fair, despite trailing twelve-month revenue of only about $6.02 million through Q3 2025 and a net loss of $86.22 million, their new Energy Base platform is driving significant commercial interest, including a 50 MWh pilot project with an Arizona utility.

That $400 million in proposal activity, representing approximately 1.2 GWh of potential projects, suggests a major inflection point is coming, but what does their patented iron-flow chemistry actually do, and how exactly does a company with a negative cash flow paln to scale its unique, U.S.-made solution?

ESS Tech, Inc. (GWH) History

You're looking for the foundational story of ESS Tech, Inc., and it's a classic tale of deep-tech innovation meeting the brutal realities of scaling hardware. The company didn't start with a massive venture capital war chest; it began with a core scientific bet on iron, salt, and water. This history, particularly the recent, sharp pivot in 2025, is defintely the key to understanding its current strategy.

Given Company's Founding Timeline

Year established

ESS Tech, Inc. was established in 2011.

Original location

The company was founded and remains headquartered in Wilsonville, Oregon, which is a key part of its Made in the USA manufacturing narrative.

Founding team members

The founding team, who brought deep experience in electrochemistry and fuel cells, included Craig Evans, Julia Song, and Bill Sproull.

Initial capital/funding

Initial capital was secured through a seed round, raising $\mathbf{\$3.2\text{ million}}$ from angel investors.

Given Company's Evolution Milestones

Given Company's Transformative Moments

The most transformative period for ESS Tech, Inc. was not the 2021 public listing, but the strategic and operational pivot executed in 2025. This was a necessary, high-stakes move to address the high cash burn and accelerate product-market fit in the LDES space.

The company's focus shifted entirely to the new Energy Base™ platform, designed for 10+ hour storage. This transition caused a dip in near-term revenue, with Q3 2025 revenue dropping to $\mathbf{\$200,000}$ from Q2's $\mathbf{\$2.4\text{ million}}$, but it was a deliberate move to streamline the product line.

• The Energy Base Pivot: The new platform demonstrated a 12.2-hour duration at rated power and up to 17.8 hours at reduced power in June 2025, accelerating the product roadmap by 18 months.
• Key Customer Validation: In Q3 2025, ESS Tech announced a 50 MWh pilot project with Salt River Project (SRP), a major utility, which is the first large-scale deployment of the new Energy Base platform.
• Capital Reinforcement: To fund the Energy Base rollout, the company closed a $\mathbf{\$40\text{ million}}$ financing transaction with Yorkville Advisors Global in October 2025, enhancing its liquidity.
• Operational Scale: By February 2025, the global fleet of ESS LDES solutions had transacted nearly $\mathbf{2.5\text{ GWh}}$ of energy, a critical operational milestone that validates the technology's durability in the field.

This pivot is a clear action to pursue the high-growth, long-duration market, which is essential for grid decarbonization and the massive energy demands of data centers. You can dig deeper into the company's financial state and the implications of this pivot by reading Breaking Down ESS Tech, Inc. (GWH) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

ESS Tech, Inc. (GWH) Ownership Structure

ESS Tech, Inc. (GWH) operates with a hybrid ownership model, where a few major strategic and venture capital investors retain significant influence alongside a substantial, but fragmented, institutional float. Understanding this balance is defintely key to mapping the company's strategic direction and risk profile, especially given the recent leadership changes.

ESS Tech, Inc.'s Current Status

ESS Tech, Inc. is a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker GWH, but its decision-making structure is heavily weighted toward its foundational backers. The company is currently undergoing a strategic pivot, focusing its iron flow long-duration energy storage (LDES) systems on emerging needs like AI and data center-driven loads.

This is a capital-intensive shift, so the financial health of the company is paramount. For the second quarter of the 2025 fiscal year, ESS Tech, Inc. reported GAAP revenue of $2.4 million, which was a 294% increase from the first quarter, driven by final deliveries of its legacy products. The stock price, as of November 17, 2025, sat at $2.56 per share. Breaking Down ESS Tech, Inc. (GWH) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors is a must-read to see how that revenue translates to cash flow.

The company is public, but its strategy is still largely dictated by its largest shareholders.

ESS Tech, Inc.'s Ownership Breakdown

The ownership structure of ESS Tech, Inc. is a critical factor for investors, as the concentration of shares among a few entities means their interests often steer the board. Here's the quick math on who holds the power, based on the most recent filings from the 2025 fiscal year:

What this breakdown hides is the influence of the strategic partners. SoftBank Group Corp, Breakthrough Energy Ventures LLC, and Honeywell International Inc. are not just passive investors; their combined stake of over 24% gives them substantial weight in any major decision, including the recent strategic shift toward the Energy Base product line.

ESS Tech, Inc.'s Leadership

The company's management team saw significant changes in 2025, signaling a clear shift in operational focus and financial discipline. The board is currently steering the company through an 'Office of the Interim CEO' to manage the strategic pivot.

• Interim CEO: Kelly Goodman. Appointed in February 2025, Ms. Goodman previously served as Vice President of Legal and is leading the new strategic direction, focusing on the 12 to 24-hour long-duration storage market.
• Interim CFO: Kate Suhadolnik. Appointed in August 2025, Ms. Suhadolnik was the company's Controller and brings deep financial and operational expertise to help scale the business with discipline.
• Chief Operating Officer (COO): Jigish Trivedi. Welcomed in August 2025, Mr. Trivedi brings over 30 years of experience across technology, product development, and manufacturing, which is crucial as the company starts manufacturing its first Energy Base orders.
• Chairman of the Board: Harry Quarls. Provides oversight and has been instrumental in the board's decision to explore financial opportunities to support the new strategy.

The average tenure of the management team is now quite short-around 1.3 years-reflecting the dramatic shake-up this year, but the board's tenure averages 4.8 years, providing some institutional memory and continuity.

ESS Tech, Inc. (GWH) Mission and Values

ESS Tech, Inc. is fundamentally driven by a purpose beyond quarterly earnings, aiming to solve a critical global challenge: making renewable energy reliable 24/7. Their core mission is to accelerate global decarbonization by providing safe, sustainable, long-duration energy storage (LDES).

You're looking for the cultural DNA that underpins the stock, and honestly, it's all about the iron flow battery. That technology is the root of their commitment to sustainability and resilience.

ESS Tech, Inc.'s Core Purpose

Official Mission Statement

The company's mission is direct and clear, focusing on the global energy transition with a specific technology-based solution.

• Accelerate global decarbonization.
• Provide safe, sustainable, long-duration energy storage.
• Power people, communities, and businesses with clean, renewable energy anytime and anywhere it's needed.

This isn't just a feel-good statement; it maps directly to their product-the iron flow battery-which uses earth-abundant materials like iron, salt, and water to deliver up to 12 hours of flexible energy capacity.

Vision Statement

While the formal vision is often embedded in strategic goals, the company's forward-looking statements center on becoming the foundational technology for a resilient, decarbonized grid. The focus is on commercializing their next-generation platform, the Energy Base, for utility and industrial scale.

Here's the quick math on why this matters: intermittent renewables need LDES to become baseload power, and ESS Tech, Inc. is positioning itself to fill that gap cost-effectively and sustainably.

• Deliver gigawatt-scale long-duration energy storage projects.
• Meet the needs of rapidly growing AI data centers and an increasingly electrified society.
• Establish iron flow technology as the standard for 10-plus hour storage.

The market is defintely responding to this vision, with analysts forecasting the company's annual revenue growth rate at 139.05% for 2025. You can dive deeper into the players betting on this vision by Exploring ESS Tech, Inc. (GWH) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?

Core Values and Cultural DNA

The company's values are intrinsically tied to the materials they use and the problem they are solving, emphasizing a commitment to environmental stewardship and technological innovation.

• Sustainability: Using non-toxic, recyclable materials that minimize environmental impact.
• Innovation: Continuous R&D, reflected by over 103 patents awarded and 214 pending patent applications for their iron flow technology.
• Resilience: Building systems designed to cycle over 20,000 times without capacity fade, ensuring long-term grid stability.

This commitment is translating into tangible results: cost reduction initiatives in 2025 led to battery pack costs being reduced by nearly 50%, a crucial step toward commercial viability. The ultimate goal is to move from a projected full-year 2025 revenue of $14.40 million to a profitable, scalable business.

ESS Tech, Inc. Slogan/Tagline

The company's most common tagline cleanly summarizes their product and purpose.

• Iron Flow Batteries for a Sustainable World.

This tagline is simple, but it anchors their product-the iron flow battery-to their mission of a cleaner future, which is what matters to long-term investors.

ESS Tech, Inc. (GWH) How It Works

ESS Tech, Inc. is a long-duration energy storage (LDES) manufacturer that builds utility-scale batteries using iron, salt, and water, providing a non-flammable, sustainable alternative to lithium-ion for storing energy for 4 to 12+ hours. The company's value proposition centers on its proprietary all-iron flow battery (IFB) technology, which enables grid operators and large commercial users to reliably integrate intermittent renewable power sources like solar and wind. Breaking Down ESS Tech, Inc. (GWH) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors

ESS Tech, Inc.'s Product/Service Portfolio

The company is strategically shifting its commercial focus in 2025 from its initial products to a new, larger platform designed for the growing need for multi-hour storage. This pivot is evident in the Q3 2025 revenue of only $200,000, reflecting the transition away from earlier product deliveries toward the new platform.

ESS Tech, Inc.'s Operational Framework

The company's operations are built around the design, manufacturing, and deployment of its iron flow battery systems from its Wilsonville, Oregon, headquarters. Honestly, the 2025 operational focus has been less on high-volume sales and more on disciplined execution and cost control, which is smart.

• Technology Core: The system works by circulating liquid electrolytes-made of iron, salt, and water-through electrochemical cells to charge and discharge electrons. During charging, solid iron plates on one electrode; during discharge, the process reverses to release electricity.
• Manufacturing Transition: The company spent much of 2025 transitioning its manufacturing line to focus on the new Energy Base platform, which is designed to be more cost-effective and scalable than its predecessors. This shift resulted in Q2 2025 GAAP revenue of $2.4 million followed by a sharp drop to $200,000 in Q3 2025, as they completed final deliveries of older models.
• Financial Discipline: Management has been intently focused on cost reduction. For example, Q3 2025 GAAP operating expenses were held to $5.1 million, demonstrating a commitment to tightening the cost base.
• Project Execution: A major operational milestone in 2025 was the announcement of a 50 MWh Energy Base pilot project with Salt River Project (SRP), a key utility validation that sets the stage for 2026 commercialization.

ESS Tech, Inc.'s Strategic Advantages

ESS Tech is competing in the long-duration energy storage (LDES) market by leveraging its unique chemistry to solve the intermittency problem of renewables without the risks and supply chain issues of lithium-ion. They are defintely playing the long game here.

• Unmatched Longevity and Durability: The iron flow chemistry allows for a 25-year design life and over 20,000 charge/discharge cycles with virtually no capacity fade, unlike lithium-ion batteries.
• Safety and Sustainability: The electrolyte is water-based, non-flammable, and non-toxic, eliminating the risk of thermal runaway and reducing the need for extensive fire suppression systems. This also gives it the lowest lifecycle carbon footprint among competing storage technologies.
• Secure, Low-Cost Supply Chain: The batteries use earth-abundant materials-iron, salt, and water-which are cheap (iron costs about $2 per kilogram) and readily available, minimizing geopolitical supply chain risk. The company also benefits from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) tax credits due to its predominantly American supply chain.
• Scalability: Power (rate of electricity flow) is decoupled from capacity (total stored energy) in a flow battery. This means capacity can be easily and cheaply increased by simply adding a larger electrolyte tank.

ESS Tech, Inc. (GWH) How It Makes Money

ESS Tech, Inc. generates revenue primarily by designing, manufacturing, and selling long-duration energy storage systems (LDES) based on its proprietary iron flow battery technology to utility-scale and commercial customers. This is a capital-intensive business where revenue is realized upon the delivery of large-scale energy storage platforms, supplemented by recurring income from long-term service agreements.

ESS Tech's Revenue Breakdown

The company is currently in a strategic transition, shifting its commercial focus from its legacy Energy Warehouse and Energy Center platforms to the new, more scalable Energy Base platform. This transition has led to significant volatility in the near-term revenue figures, so this table reflects the primary streams that make up the trailing twelve months (TTM) revenue of $6.02 million as of Q3 2025, while the growth trend reflects the strategic shift.

Here's the quick math: The vast majority of the TTM revenue is from product sales, but the company's Q3 2025 revenue dropped sharply to just $0.21 million from Q2's $2.4 million as the Energy Base ramp-up began, illustrating the current revenue gap. What this estimate hides is that while legacy product sales are decreasing, the new Energy Base platform is the future, with a significant 50 MWh pilot project with Salt River Project (SRP) now underway.

Business Economics

ESS Tech's core economic engine is built on the long-term, low-cost advantages of its iron flow battery technology over traditional lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, which is a classic value-based pricing strategy.

• Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) Advantage: The iron flow chemistry uses earth-abundant materials-iron, salt, and water-which provides a fundamental raw material cost advantage and avoids the price volatility of Li-ion's cobalt and nickel.
• Gross Margin Focus: Management is laser-focused on optimizing manufacturing processes to drive down production costs and achieve non-GAAP gross margin profitability on its platforms, a critical milestone for a hardware company.
• Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Win: Iron flow batteries are non-flammable and promise a 20+ year lifespan with no capacity degradation over time, which translates into lower insurance premiums, less maintenance, and a much lower TCO for utility customers. This is the real selling point.
• Pricing Strategy: The company employs a value-based pricing model, justifying the initial capital expenditure (CapEx) with the long-term operational savings (OpEx) and safety benefits of its non-toxic, non-flammable systems.
• Service Revenue: Long-term Service Agreements (LTSAs) provide a high-margin, recurring revenue stream that is essential for stabilizing cash flow as system sales scale.

ESS Tech's Financial Performance

As of November 2025, ESS Tech is in the pre-commercialization phase of its flagship product, meaning financial performance is characterized by high investment and significant losses, not profitability. You're investing in a future market, not current earnings.

• Revenue Volatility: The TTM revenue is $6.02 million, but the Q3 2025 revenue was only $0.21 million due to the strategic pivot to the Energy Base platform. This volatility is expected until the new platform is in full production.
• Net Loss: The net loss for Q3 2025 was $10.4 million, showing the substantial cost of scaling manufacturing and R&D for the new platform.
• Cash Position and Liquidity: Cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments stood at $3.5 million at the end of Q3 2025. To be fair, this figure does not include the $40 million financing closed shortly after the quarter end, which provided a necessary liquidity boost.
• Cost Discipline: The company reported Q3 2025 GAAP cost of revenues of $4.9 million and operating expenses of $5.1 million, reflecting a commitment to disciplined cost control despite the massive revenue shortfall. They are defintely watching the burn rate.
• Future Capital: ESS Tech also launched a $75 million at-the-market (ATM) equity program, which acts as an additional tool for accessing capital to fund future growth and manufacturing readiness.

For a deeper dive into the company's balance sheet and operational efficiency, check out Breaking Down ESS Tech, Inc. (GWH) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

ESS Tech, Inc. (GWH) Market Position & Future Outlook

ESS Tech is strategically positioned as a first-mover in the non-lithium, long-duration energy storage (LDES) market, leveraging its iron flow battery technology to capture utility and data center demand. The company's future hinges on the successful execution of its pivot to the next-generation Energy Base platform and scaling its manufacturing capabilities to convert its 1.1 GWh proposal pipeline into firm revenue.

Competitive Landscape

The LDES market is still nascent, with the flow battery segment representing a tiny fraction of the overall energy storage landscape, which is dominated by pumped-storage hydro (PSH) and lithium-ion. ESS Tech competes directly with other non-lithium LDES innovators, each with a distinct chemical advantage.

Opportunities & Challenges

The company is facing a critical execution window in 2026. The shift to the Energy Base product is a high-stakes move, but it aligns perfectly with the market's growing need for 10+ hours of storage, especially from major utilities and the rapidly expanding digital infrastructure sector.

Industry Position

ESS Tech is a technology leader in the emerging iron flow battery space, a segment of the LDES market that is still in its infancy. Their current position is defined by technological differentiation and a growing commercial pipeline, not by historical market share. You can review the company's foundational principles here: Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of ESS Tech, Inc. (GWH).

The company's focus is on moving from development to execution, with management emphasizing operational discipline. Honestly, the Q3 2025 revenue of only $0.21 million highlights the current challenge of transitioning away from older products to the new Energy Base. Here's the quick math: the $40 million financing and the $75 million ATM program are defintely needed to bridge the gap until the Energy Base starts generating meaningful revenue in 2026.

• Focus on 10+ hour storage systems, competing directly with lithium-ion in utility RFPs.
• Manufacturing Line 2 is expected to be operational by the first half of fiscal year 2025, aiming for approximately 1 GWh of annual production capacity.
• The Energy Base platform offers a 25-year design life with zero capacity fade, a key advantage over lithium-ion's typical 10-15 year lifespan.