Vision Fund makes first ever investment in an energy firm

SoftBank’s Vision Fund has announced its first investment in an energy company, marking a shift for the $100 billion fund that invests in companies like Uber, WeWork and Slack, CNBC reported on Wednesday.

Vision Fund said it completed a $110 million investment in Swiss start-up Energy Vault, which creates renewable energy storage products.

Energy Vault’s system uses recycled concrete blocks built into a tower that can store and release energy.

“For the first time, we’ve got a cost point in economics with energy storage that enables renewables to be deployed below the cost of fossil fuel,” Energy Vault co-founder and CEO Robert Piconi told CNBC.

Piconi said the funding will be used to help scale the company’s storage technology on a multi-continent basis.

In July, SoftBank launched a $108 billion-Vision Fund 2 that will target companies developing artificial intelligence.