This EV battery material pioneer just raised $65M to scale US production

NanoGraf Technologies, which claims it has enabled the highest energy-density cylindrical 18650 Lithium-ion cell in the world, has raised $65 million in an oversubscribed Series B funding round. 18650 cells are used in the production of electric vehicles.

The funding round was co-led by Volta Energy Technologies and CC Industries with participation from GIC, Emerald Technology Ventures, Material Impact, Arosa Capital, Nabtesco Technology Ventures, and TechNexus.

NanoGraf, a spinout of Northwestern University and Argonne National Laboratory, had previously raised a total of $27 million in funding from a mix of venture, angel, and non-dilutive funding sources.

In November 2022, the Chicago-headquartered EV battery pioneer was awarded a $10 million contract from the US government to launch the country’s first large-volume silicon oxide factory. NanoGraf’s new 17,000-square-foot factory, which is under construction, is in Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood. 

And in October 2022, NanoGraf set a new industry benchmark for the most energy-dense lithium-ion 18650 battery – it has more than 20% higher energy density than the industry’s leading cells today.

In 2019, the US Council for Automotive Research, a consortium of Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, provided NanoGraf with $7.5 million for a 36-month electric vehicle battery research and development project.

Read more: NanoGraf’s Li-ion 18650 battery achieves a new energy-density milestone

Photo: NanoGraf

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