Nexeon gets $65.40M funding for Li-ion batt tech

Nexeon Ltd has received $65.40M (?40 million) of Series C funding from its existing investors. The company plans to use the fund to boost its rechargeable Lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery technology developments by building a world-class manufacturing facility.

The Series C investment was led by Nexeon's existing investors Imperial Innovations Group and Invesco Perpetual. Both organisations are existing investors.

Nexeon plans to scale up the production of the company's latest silicon anode materials to around 250 tonnes per annum, representing a commercial supply level.

The use of silicon anodes in Li-ion batteries produces a 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 investment brings the total funds raised by Nexeon to $89.93 million (?55 million). This will allow the company to further accelerate application development and increase support to its customers.

According to Nexeon its technology has reached unprecedented levels of performance in the last year, and the company recently announced that it had it produced sample cells with higher capacity for their size than the best current commercial equivalents.

"This is the next step in an amazing journey for this exciting UK start up", said Nexeon chairman and founder, Paul Atherton. "It is a superb example of UK high value manufacturing involving sophisticated advanced materials, and this funding will enable Nexeon to establish the first in a series of manufacturing plants that will be needed to serve demand worldwide," he added.