Upgrade Energy
About
About Upgrade Energy
Upgrade Energy designs and assembles high-performance lithium battery packs for drones, UAS and other lightweight mobile platforms. Its Dark Lithium lines use selected high-energy-density cells, copper welding and lightweight construction to balance flight duration, power output and system weight.
The company offers Gold Max Range, Red High Power and Green Long Range configurations, with packs tested and assembled in the United States. Its engineering layer covers cell selection, battery construction and quality inspection for mission-specific aerial systems that need reliable power, high energy density and repeatable production.
Articles
Supply
Supply chain relationships
- Amprius Technologies
Inbound - Power Systems - Amprius SA124 cells are selected for Upgrade Energy’s RED 21700 Series V4 battery packs
Source
Team
- Matthew Barnard - CEO - Central executive behind Upgrade Energy shift from drone work into high-performance UAS battery packs.
Timeline
Events
- 2026-05-11 - Acquisition - Unusual Machines agrees to acquire Upgrade Energy to expand U.S. drone battery production
Unusual Machines agreed to acquire Upgrade Energy in a transaction valued at approximately USD 52 million. The transaction is structured as cash and stock consideration with a performance-based earnout. The acquisition is aimed at expanding U.S.-based drone battery production and power-system supply for UAV applications.
Source
Relations
Relationships
- Unusual Machines
Acquired Company - Unusual Machines has a public acquisition relationship with Upgrade Energy.
Context
Comparable profiles
- Tulip Tech
comparable profile - Drone Battery Supplier
- Kyten Technologies
comparable profile - Drone Battery Supplier
- Quaze Technologies
stack adjacency - UAS Power Systems
- H3 Dynamics
stack adjacency - UAS Power Systems
Context tags
- Drone battery supplier - Peer Group
- UAS power-system layer - Stack Layer
- High Energy Density Packs - Stack Layer
- Domestic Drone Components - Customer Environment
- Mission-Specific Battery Design - Capability