It is desirable to use lithium metal electrodes in lithium batteries due to their high energy density. However, lithium metal electrodes are prone to undesirable reactions (growth of lithium dendrites) during the fabrication and cycling of the electrochemical cells. Using innovative techniques, several startups have developed stable lithium metal batteries to overcome this obstacle.
SES
SES develops and manufactures large hybrid lithium metal batteries that can meet with the demands of practical applications that require high high capacity and energy density batteries, owing to the unique design of hybrid lithium metal battery and the simple production lines that can produce batteries on a large scale.
SES has raised a total of $600.1M in funding over 10 rounds. Their latest funding was raised on Feb 4, 2022 from a Post-IPO Equity round. SES is funded by 28 investors.
SES is registered under the ticker NYSE:SES.
Qichao Hu is Founder & Chief Executive Officer.
Sepion Technologies
Sepion Technologies developed a separator with a hybrid polymer-ceramic composite membrane coating layer that prevents the growth of lithium dendrites on the lithium metal anode. This is made possible by the membrane’s permeability to lithium ions and impermeability to electrolyte solvents. The lithium metal batteries based on the membranes have twice the the gravimetric energy density of today’s Li-ion batteries and can be produced by leveraging the current Li-ion manufacturing infrastructure. The figure below depicts the structure of the battery of Sepion Technologies.
Sepion Technologies has raised a total of $16M in funding over 2 rounds. Their latest funding was raised on Nov 18, 2021 from a Series A round. Sepion Technologies is funded by 5 investors.
Brett Helms and Peter Frischmann are Co-Founders.
Peter Frischmann is CEO.
Sion Power
Sion Power developed high energy lithium metal batteries based on utilizing stable lithium metal anode fabricated with its own innovative vacuum deposition systems, coating lithium metal anode with polymer/ceramic hybrid protective layer, optimizing electrolyte additives, and applying mechanical force to the batteries. The figure below depicts the structure of the battery of Sion Power.
Sion Power has raised a total of $70M in funding over 2 Corporate rounds. Their latest funding was raised on Nov 30, 2021. Sion Power is funded by 2 investors.
Tracy Kelley is CEO.
Adden Energy
Adden Energy develops the technology that enables solid-state lithium metal batteries with high capacity, stable cycling, high-rate, and high current density capabilities, based on the new design principles for electrolytes, interfaces and devices within the framework of the mechanical constriction theory. The figure below depicts the structure of the battery of Adden Energy.
Adden Energy has raised a total of $5.2M in funding over 1 round. This was a Seed round raised on Feb 25, 2022. Adden Energy is funded by 3 investors.
William Fitzhugh, Luhan Ye, Fred Hu, and Xin Li are Co-founders.
William Fitzhugh is CEO.
Ion Storage Systems
Ion Storage Systems develops porous-dense bilayer structured garnet solid-state electrolytes for Li metal batteries with a high energy density, a simple fabrication process, and stable cycling performance. As depicted in the figure below, the li-ion conducting garnet framework consists of a porous layer that hosts Li metal and a dense layer that acts as a separator to prevent Li metal dendrite penetration and potential short-circuits. The figure below depicts the structure of the battery of Ion Storage Systems.
Ion Storage Systems has raised a total of $52.5M in funding over 5 rounds. Their latest funding was raised on Jan 9, 2022 from a Series A round. Ion Storage Systems is funded by 8 investors.
Eric Wachsman and Greg Hitz are Founders.
Ricky Hanna is CEO.
Cuberg
Cuberg develops high energy density and stable rechargeable batteries with lithium-magnesium (Li-Mg) metal alloy anode and non-flammable ionic liquid electrolyte. Cuberg batteries are fully compatible with current manufacturing technology, allowing for a straightforward easy scaling up of its batteries. The figure below depicts the structure of the battery of Cuberg.
Cuberg has raised a total of $225K in funding over 2 rounds. Their latest funding was raised on Jan 29, 2018 from a Seed round. Cuberg is funded by 2 investors. Boeing HorizonX Ventures and National Science Foundation are the most recent investors. In March 2021, Cuberg was acquired by Northvolt.
Richard Wang and Mauro Pasta are Co-Founders.
Richard Wang is CEO.
