Bristol's Anaphite raises more than £10m to scale battery tech

Anaphite, which specialises in production technology for battery electrodes, has raised a $13.7 million (£10.4 million) Series A round. The funding was co-led by World Fund, Europe’s leading climate VC, and Maniv, a global early-stage VC investing in the decarbonisation of transportation and digitisation of its value chains. A cohort of top climate investors also joined, including EEI and Nesta, with further participation from existing investors Elbow Beach Capital and Wealth Club.

Anaphite, launched in 2018 by chemist Sam Burrow (CTO) and physicist Alexander Hewitt (COO), has patented chemistry-based technology with the potential to make EV battery manufacture 30 per cent less energy intensive and up to 40 per cent cheaper. This represents a breakthrough for the battery sector, and Anaphite is actively working with leading battery cell manufacturers and car OEMs to implement this technology. Delivered at scale by manufacturers worldwide, Anaphite's technology would reduce the cost of EVs for consumers - thereby helping to accelerate the global adoption of EVs and the transition to an eco-mobility future.

The round represents EEI’s first investment in a UK-based company. Nesta, the UK innovation agency, also invested for the first time.

The fresh capital injection will enable Anaphite to scale-up and expand its in-house dry coating capability, and fully commission a plant with the capacity to deliver tonnes of the company's patented composite cathode material. The funding will also support extensive new hires and further R&D investment to expand its technology portfolio.  

Improving batteries and making them cheaper to produce is one of the greatest manufacturing challenges of our era, and Anaphite's technology represents a breakthrough. 

Electrode manufacturing has historically been challenging and expensive, representing a major cost driver in modern battery production. Anaphite introduces a unique chemical compositing process, delivering a proprietary "precursor powder" that ensures reliable dry coating for high speed, high performance electrode production. Dry coating with Anaphite technology has the potential to save about 30% of the energy usage and 15% of factory floor space traditionally used in cell manufacturing - all of which greatly reduces the cost and environmental impact of making a lithium-ion battery. Moreover, by dramatically reducing the energy required for electrode manufacturing – up to 90% – Anaphite will fundamentally alter the carbon profile of electric vehicles. 

Alexander Hewitt, Anaphite Co-founder and COO, said: "This funding will help Anaphite scale up and become a partner of choice for the global market. Li-ion battery electrodes have been produced at scale the same way for decades, and with the advent of the sustainable energy revolution, there is an acute hunger for change and improvement in the industry. Our technology has the power to revolutionise the electrode production process while lowering costs and emissions for EV and cell manufacturers, and we can't wait to see it in action.”