Battery supplies startup NanoGraf Corp. raised $65 million to scale up the home manufacturing of silicon anodes for lithium-ion batteries.

NanoGraf’s collection B capital increase comes on the heels of the corporate successful a $10 million contract from the U.S. Division of Protection in November to construct the nation’s first giant superior silicon oxide manufacturing facility, a 17,000-square-foot facility in Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood.

NanoGraf beforehand raised $27 million in funding from a mixture of enterprise capital and angel buyers.

Silicon anodes are a fabric that may add power density to lithium-ion batteries that energy electrical autos. Nonetheless, silicon steel is tough to include into electrical car batteries as a result of the steel can swell and trigger harm to the cells in the course of the charging course of.

The silicon anodes produced by Chicago’s NanoGraf might be included into its 18650 battery cell, which the corporate payments as “the world’s most energy-dense lithium-ion battery.”

NanoGraf unveiled the 18650 battery cell in October. The corporate stated its product was 20 % extra power dense than the business’s main batteries.

NanoGraf beforehand produced silicon anodes in Japan however took benefit of a ten % tax credit score within the Inflation Discount Act to begin producing battery supplies within the U.S.

The Pentagon is just not the one U.S. authorities company funding silicon battery expertise improvement. In October, the U.S. Division of Vitality awarded $250 million in cost-sharing grants to a few corporations creating silicon expertise for EV battery storage and charging stations.

“This funding not solely ensures a home provide of a key strategic part of subsequent technology lithium-ion batteries but in addition enhances our nationwide competitiveness within the world power space for storing,” stated NanoGraf CEO Francis Wang.

The funding spherical was led by two Chicago-area corporations, Volta Vitality Applied sciences and CC Industries. Different individuals embody Emerald Expertise Ventures, Materials Impression, Arosa Capital, Nabtesco Expertise Ventures and TechNexus.

“Nanograf’s expertise guarantees to allow increased power density in lithium-ion batteries in a means that makes use of silicon with what’s virtually drop-in to current battery manufacturing processes,” stated Volta Vitality Applied sciences CEO Jeff Chamberlain.

NanoGraf’s current buyers who additionally participated within the collection B spherical had been Hyde Park Angels, Evergreen Local weather Improvements and Goose Capital.