A Bristol battery company has successfully raised £1.4m in its latest funding round.
Anaphite has developed technology that has the potential to make electric vehicle battery manufacturing cheaper and less energy intenstive.
The company was founded in 2018 by chemist Sam Burrow and physicist Alexander Hewitt after the duo met at the University of Bristol.
By 2021 the pair had applied their technology to lithium-ion battery cell electrodes and proven the application of their composites in dry coating feasibility trials with the University of Warwick.
The business has raised millions of pounds since it was established.
The latest cash injection is a combination of £700,000 in grant funding from Innovate Ƶ Investor Partnerships: Clean Energy and Climate Technologies competition, alongside £700,000 of investment from climate-focused venture capital funds Elbow Beach and World Fund.
It is understood Anaphite will use the funding to expand its technology platform and further its commercial capabilities.
Anaphite’s chief executive Joe Stevenson said: “We're thrilled to have secured this grant support from Innovate Ƶ and the matching investment from Elbow Beach, World Fund and other Anaphite investors.
"This enables us to attack one of the toughest technical challenges in dry coating – successfully manufacturing LFP electrodes. Once achieved at scale, it will be enormously valuable to the industry."
Anaphite's existing DCP technology platform uses proprietary chemical compositing techniques to disperse difficult-to-mix materials such as binders and conductive carbons, attaching them to active material particles.
The company says the approach "overcomes the limitations" of other mixing techniques.
Craig Douglas, partner at World Fund, said: “Anaphite’s technology is broadly applicable across next-generation and established battery technologies alike.
"This investment will enable the company to significantly expand its commercial capabilities, accelerating the scale-up of its manufacturing processes and driving down manufacturing costs for the global battery industry.”
Jonathan Pollock, chief executive of Elbow Beach, added: “The future of driving is electric, so scaling up affordable, low-carbon battery manufacturing is essential.
"Anaphite’s technology has the potential to significantly cut both costs and carbon footprint for battery makers and EV manufacturers, and we’re excited to support them as they lead the way in this critical sector.”
