Ionblox, a next-generation lithium-ion battery company, has closed a $32 million Series B financing round, in which Bavarian e-flying taxi startup Lilium is also participating.
For this funding round, the existing investors Lilium and Applied Ventures were joined by Temasek and Catalus Capital.
The California-based company will use this funding to scale its technology, develop advanced high-power cells for electric aviation, and prototype fast-charge cells for Electric Vehicles.
Ionblox develops batteries with high-performance lithium-ion cells that have pre-lithiated silicon-dominant anodes.
The company claims its battery technology can achieve up to 50% higher energy density, 5X more power, and an extremely fast charge of 10 minutes compared with conventional lithium-ion cells.
The batteries can address the most demanding use cases, such as electric Vertical Take-off and Landing Aircrafts or eVTOL. The company is currently producing its large format pouch cells of up to 50Ah on its pilot production lines.
“Here at Ionblox, we are commercializing next-generation lithium-ion batteries with pre-lithiated silicon dominant anodes in order to transform the future of electric mobility,” said Sujeet Kumar, chief executive officer at Ionblox.
“The funding from this round will enable us to take an important step in our journey to scale our technology and set up our own cell manufacturing in the U.S. and other key markets.”
“The Ionblox technology enables one of the highest performance cells for eVTOL aircraft existing today, and we’re proud to partner with Ionblox for our conforming aircraft. Test results to date are showing the technology will deliver not only superior energy and power density for the Lilium Jet at launch but also very good aging performance. We’re excited to continue our work together to support the continuous improvement and the ongoing industrialization of the technology,” said Yves Yemsi, chief operating officer of Lilium.
To commercialize its next-generation technology, Ionblox has received a development contract from the United States Advanced Battery Consortium LLC (USABC).
As a part of the contract, the company is developing low-cost, fast-charge electric vehicle batteries where cell performance has been verified by Idaho National Lab and is also partnering with leading semiconductor equipment manufacturer Applied Materials.
Ionblox’s proprietary pre-lithiated silicon anode and cell design enable multiple performance attributes – fast charging, high energy, high power, and long life at low cost – pushing the limits of traditional battery storage technology and unlocking the viability of widespread electric transportation.
