COMPANIES TO WATCH We picked 20 promising companies chasing the electric-vehicle and grid-storage batteries of the future

counts among its members chemistry » Why watch: In October 2019 ESS Nobel laureate and battery pioneer John raised $30 million from investors led B. Goodenough. by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a cleantech fund spearheaded by Bill Gates. » Cadenza Innovation » cadenzainnovation.com » Based: Wilton, Connecticut » Founded: 2012 » Money raised to date: $16 million » Enovix » Key partnerships: Alcoa, Fiat Chrysler » enovix.com Automobiles, Shenzhen BAK Power » Based: Fremont, California » Faradion Battery » Founded: 2006 » faradion.co.uk » Strategy: Cadenza uses a » Money raised to date: $191 million » Based: Sheffield, England noncombustible ceramic fiber material » Key partnerships: Cypress » Founded: 2010 to control the temperature inside Semiconductor, Intel, Qualcomm » Money raised to date: $4 million rechargeable lithium-ion battery cells. » Strategy: Enovix’s innovation is its » Key partnerships: Jaguar, Land Rover, This allows a tighter packing of the 3-D battery cell architecture. Unlike Sharp cylindrical metal sheets that power the the horizontally wound structure of » Strategy: Faradion’s low-cost battery battery, increasing the energy density a conventional lithium-ion cell, this materials involve sodium-ion technology, without compromising safety and also architecture vertically stacks high- which has the potential to be cheaper cutting production costs. capacity silicon anodes, cathodes, and and more environmentally benign » Why watch: Through a deal with separators in a flat structure. than lithium-ion technology. Potential manufacturer Energy Renaissance, the » Why watch: In October, Enovix applications include residential and company is bringing its expertise to disclosed a partner agreement with industrial energy storage, as well as Australia’s first utility-scale lithium-ion a major Asian lithium-ion battery transportation. battery-making facility. manufacturer to meet customer » Why watch: In April, Faradion demand, including for the electric- announced that it had received its vehicle market. first order for sodium batteries from investment group ICM Australia for use in the Australian market. It is now looking to India as a manufacturing location. » Enevate » enevate.com » Based: Irvine, California » Founded: 2005 » ESS » Money raised to date: $111 million » essinc.com » Key partnerships: LG Chem, Renault » Based: Wilsonville, Oregon Nissan Mitsubishi, Samsung SDI » Founded: 2011 » Strategy: Enevate envisions charging » Money raised to date: $47 million electric vehicles in the same amount » Key partnerships: ARPA-E, Power » Form Energy of time it takes to refuel a gasoline- Africa, Wells Fargo » formenergy.com powered car, and they design their » Strategy: The firm’s long-duration » Based: Somerville, Massachusetts battery cells to promote extra-fast flow batteries use earth-abundant iron, » Founded: 2017 charging. Enevate’s lithium-ion battery salt, and water for the electrolyte. The » Money raised to date: $49 million design replaces conventional graphite technology is designed to extend the » Key partnerships: Arizona Public anodes with silicon-dominant anodes, availability of intermittent renewable Service Electric which have a higher energy capacity. energy sources like wind and solar for » Strategy: Form Energy’s goal is a cheap » Why watch: The firm’s advisory board energy-storage durations of up to 10 h. battery that will store energy from wind

Q2 2020 « DISCOVERY REPORT 15 or solar for months. The research that with silicon, Nexeon has focused on inspired one of the two companies that preventing the swelling that normally merged into Form involves a flow battery happens with silicon anodes and with an aqueous polysulfide negative » NantEnergy degrades the electrode (see page 10). electrode, sodium as the working ion, and » nantenergy.com » Why watch: Moving to consolidate an air-breathing positive electrode. The » Based: Scottsdale, Arizona intellectual property in the field of silicon company is keeping its current projects » Founded: 2008 battery anodes, Nexeon has acquired close to the vest. » Money raised to date: $27 million 24 patents previously owned by the » Why watch: The executive team » Key partnerships: Not disclosed now-bankrupt firm Litarion. includes the person who built Tesla’s » Strategy: NantEnergy is developing stationary energy-storage brand. zinc-air rechargeable batteries that can provide electricity when paired with renewable energy, such as solar, in a microgrid system. The technology has allowed more than 200,000 people in villages across rural Indonesia and Africa » NOHMs Technologies to access electricity—many for the first » nohms.com » Ion Storage Systems time. » Based: Rochester, New York » ionstoragesystems.com » Why watch: The firm’s microgrid » Founded: 2010 » Based: College Park, Maryland technology let officials at Great Smoky » Money raised to date: $6 million » Founded: 2015 Mountains National Park remove power » Key partnerships: Not disclosed » Money raised to date: $8 million lines and return 13 acres of land to its » Strategy: The company, one of » Key partnerships: Not disclosed natural state. C&EN’s 2015 10 Start-Ups to Watch, » Strategy: Ion Storage Systems is has developed a recipe for ionic liquid developing a solid, nonflammable electrolytes that are nonflammable and ceramic electrolyte as an alternative to have potential applications in mobile the typical flammable liquid electrolytes devices and electric vehicles. in rechargeable batteries (see page 18). » Why watch: The firm is working The design allows lithium ions to flow on battery technology optimized for quickly and prevents formation of » Natron Energy indoor use to stabilize New York State’s dendrites—tiny deposits that can lead to » natron.energy electrical grid. short circuits. » Based: Santa Clara, California » Why watch: In January, the firm hired » Founded: 2012 the former executive director of Apple’s » Money raised to date: $15 million battery operations as CEO. » Key partnerships: ARPA-E, CalCharge, Molecular Foundry » Strategy: The battery technology at » Northvolt Natron uses a sodium-ion electrolyte. » northvolt.com Both the positive and negative electrodes » Based: Stockholm contain Prussian blue pigments. » Founded: 2016 » Why watch: Chevron Technology » Money raised to date: $1.6 billion Ventures has invested in Natron so that » Key partnerships: ABB, BMW, Epiroc, » Ionic Materials the firm can adapt its battery technology, Scania, Siemens, Stena Line, Vattenfall, » ionicmaterials.com originally designed for data center Vestas, Volkswagen » Based: Woburn, Massachusetts applications, to meet specifications for » Strategy: Northvolt envisions the » Founded: 2012 electric-vehicle charging. world’s greenest lithium-ion batteries and » Money raised to date: More than is bringing the complex battery supply $65 million chain in-house to meet its goal. Large- » Key partnerships: A123 Systems scale manufacturing is expected to begin » Strategy: The solid polymer at the first of the firm’s factories in 2021. electrolyte developed by Ionic Materials » Why watch: The company says its (one of C&EN’s 2018 10 Start-Ups battery-recycling operation could supply to Watch) conducts ions at room at least half the raw materials needed temperature, which could result in a » Nexeon for its first factory by 2030. safer battery. The company says the » nexeon.co.uk polymer supports lithium-ion cells » Based: Abingdon, England that contain little or no cobalt in their » Founded: 2006 cathodes, a boon for cost-effectiveness » Money raised to date: $86 million and ethical production (see page 8). » Key partnerships: Synthomer, » Why watch: Backers include an University College London, Wacker alliance of automakers Renault, Nissan, Chemie » Oxis Energy and Mitsubishi, as well as electronics » Strategy: To replace the graphite » oxisenergy.com maker Samsung, which in the past has anodes in traditional lithium-ion batteries » Based: Abingdon, England struggled with smartphone-battery fires. with more energy-dense anodes made » Founded: 2000

16 DISCOVERY REPORT » Q2 2020 » Money raised to date: $5 million material for battery cathodes; and » Key partnerships: Airbus, Arkema, separator materials. DHL, NASA, Renault, Seat, Solvay » Why watch: In a press release » Strategy: Lithium-sulfur batteries announcing its partnership with have a reputation for suffering from QuantumScape, Volkswagen estimated fading performance, but Oxis has that a car outfitted with a solid-state » SolidEnergy Systems collaborated with multiple chemical battery the same size as today’s lithium- » ses.ai firms to improve the lithium-sulfur life ion automotive batteries would achieve » Based: Woburn, Massachusetts cycle. a range comparable to a conventional » Founded: 2012 » Why watch: The company said in gasoline-powered car. » Money raised to date: $71 million February that its technology had been » Key partnerships: A123 Systems ground tested in an aircraft system in the » Strategy: SolidEnergy’s technology US and could be ready for use in aircraft is an anodeless rechargeable battery within 5 years. based on lithium metal (see page 10). The firm claims twice the energy density of traditional lithium-ion batteries, » Sila Nanotechnologies meaning that drones, smartphones, or » silanano.com electric vehicles could travel twice as far » Based: Alameda, California on a charge. » Founded: 2011 » Why watch: SolidEnergy’s pilot line of » Money raised to date: $340 million batteries is being tested in drones, and » Prieto Battery » Key partnerships: BMW, Daimler AG a manufacturing facility in Shanghai is » prietobattery.com » Strategy: To boost the energy density under construction. » Based: Fort Collins, Colorado of lithium-ion batteries, Sila replaces » Founded: 2009 the graphite in the battery anode with » Money raised to date: $14 million a nanocomposite containing 50% » Key partnerships: Intel, Stanley Black silicon. The composite’s porous nature & Decker is more forgiving of the expansion and » Strategy: The foundation of Prieto’s contraction that occurs in silicon anodes technology is a porous, 3-D copper foam. during charge and discharge, and thus » UniEnergy Technologies Electroplating and coating steps that add prevents battery cracking and associated » uetechnologies.com anode, separator, and cathode materials drops in performance. » Based: Mukilteo, Washington atop the foam substrate, rather than » Why watch: Sila’s technology is » Founded: 2012 onto conventional flat metal sheets, designed to drop into existing battery- » Money raised to date: $25 million improve battery capacity and charge. production processes, so manufacturers » Key partnerships: Chemours, Rongke The battery’s copper antimonide anode wouldn’t need new factories to Power prevents lithium deposits that can cause incorporate it. » Strategy: UniEnergy provides short circuits. stationary batteries to store renewable » Why watch: In September, the energy so that it can be used later. company claimed a 100% success The company licensed vanadium rate in third-party testing with fully flow battery technology from Pacific assembled batteries containing its Northwest National Laboratory that proprietary anode. doubles the batteries’ energy density » Silatronix and increases the operating temperature » silatronix.com window compared with older flow » Based: Madison, Wisconsin batteries. » Founded: 2007 » Why watch: In addition to its shipping » Money raised to date: $20 million container–sized batteries for grid » Key partnerships: Hitachi Chemical, storage, the company is testing smaller Inabata modules suitable for installation inside » QuantumScape » Strategy: Cascading decomposition buildings. » quantumscape.com reactions that tend to occur during » Based: San Jose, California battery-electrolyte production can form » Founded: 2010 gases that build up pressure in battery » Money raised to date: $100 million cells. The organosilicon molecules Note: Companies » Key partnerships: Volkswagen developed by Silatronix (one of C&EN’s were included » Strategy: The founders of this 2016 10 Start-Ups to Watch) stabilize because of the start-up have been tight lipped about the electrolytes, preventing damage. novelty and promise Sources: their solid-state battery technology, » Why watch: The US Office of Naval of their methods, Crunchbase but the company’s many patents Research awarded the firm $10.1 million amount of capital (accessed include an active layer between battery to improve the cycling stability of raised, number of April 2020), electrodes that contains quantum lithium-ion battery cells using standard partnerships, and company dots, nanowires, or other quantum cathode materials and a variety of new number and identity websites, news confinement species; a nanostructured anode materials. of investors. reports.

Q2 2020 « DISCOVERY REPORT 17