24M Technologies closes $57-million financing round
The battery cell developer 24M Technologies has raised 56.8 million US dollars in a new financing round. 24M wants to use the fresh capital to commercialise its so-called semi-solid technology.
The current Series E financing round brings the company the equivalent of 46.5 million euros. Apparently, mainly Japanese investors participated in the round – among them Fujifilm and Kyocera. The round was led by the global trading company Itochu, which will also provide a member of the board of directors in the form of Hiroaki Murase.
The US company, which emerged from battery manufacturer A123 in 2010, works on cells with a simple structure and a semi-solid electrolyte.
“We, along with our licensee partners, have made tremendous progress commercializing the SemiSolid™ platform over the past year,” said Naoki Ota, president and CEO of 24M. “During that time, we have been able to substantially improve the performance and safety of our cells while our license partners, Kyocera and GPSC, have expanded their commercial operations.”
24M first unveiled its new cell design, including new manufacturing methods, in 2015, when the company highlighted its low manufacturing costs. After that, the company was quiet for a long time. It was not until the end of 2018 that it reported back with a completed financing round and fresh capital proceeds of 22 million dollars.
24M Technologies did not take a big step towards commercialisation until the beginning of 2021. The company, in January, signed a licensing agreement with the Norwegian company Freyr. The licence agreement grants Freyr rights to unlimited battery cell production based on 24M’s current and all future technologies. Freyr plans to build a cell factory in Rana, Norway.
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