A battery storage company trying to position itself at the forefront of Britain’s transition to electric vehicles is racing to ‘unicorn’ status with a round of new funding.

Sky News has learnt that Zenobe has appointed investment bankers at Barclays to secure a further injection of capital.

City sources said Zenobe was expected to be valued at approximately £1bn – in excess of the billion dollar valuation that cements technology companies’ unicorn status.

The UK-based business is already backed by prominent investors such as M&G, the FTSE-100 asset manager.

One prospective shareholder who has been sounded out about the new fundraising said Zenobe had an impressive order pipeline which pointed to significant future growth.

Chaired by Steve Holliday, the former chief executive of National Grid, Zenobe describes itself as an international EV fleet and battery storage specialist.

It boasts a 25% share of the still-nascent UK electric bus sector, and counts National Express and Stagecoach, two of the country’s biggest bus service operators, among its customers.

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Zenobe also repurposes EV batteries after their initial life, providing power solutions to industries such as film and events.

Its other shareholders include the Japanese companies Tepco and Jera.

Zenobe declined to comment.

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