Rechargeable lithium-ion battery technology has received a huge boost with the investment of £40 million in Nexeon, the company pioneering the use of silicon anodes in place of carbon. The Series C investment was led by existing investor Imperial Innovations Group and included Invesco Perpetual; both organisations are existing investors.
Nexeon plans to use the new funding to establish a world class manufacturing facility, scaling up the production of its latest silicon anode materials to around 250 tonnes per annum, representing a commercial supply level. Use of silicon anodes in Li-ion batteries produces a significantly higher performance and overcomes the limitations of present-day technology. Batteries with higher energy density can offer longer time between charges, higher power output, smaller size or a combination of these benefits. They are eagerly awaited for application in cell phones, laptops and many other consumer devices, as well as having important application in electric vehicles and in storage of renewable energy.
The latest funding brings the total raised by Nexeon to £55 million, and will allow the company further to accelerate application development and to increase support to its customers.
Nexeon’s technology has reached unprecedented levels of performance in the last year, and the company recently announced that it had it produced sample cells with significantly higher capacity for their size than the best current commercial equivalents. As Nexeon expands the scope of its activities it will be looking to create and fill a number of key commercial, technical and supply chain positions.
Susan Searle, Imperial Innovations’ CEO, said: “This new funding round will enable Nexeon to scale up its production facilities, in keeping with Innovations’ strategy to accelerate the development of its advanced portfolio companies, and to stay with those companies for longer. We are privileged to work alongside Nexeon’s world class team as they continue the development of their battery technology and set up a leading edge manufacturing facility.”
Last month, Nexeon was presented with the Green Technology award at Venturefest in recognition of the company’s innovative technology and demonstrable commercial potential.