Soelect, a lithium battery component maker, raised $11 million in Series A financing.
Lotte Ventures led the funding round through a fund sponsored by Lotte Chemical. GM Ventures and KTB Network also participated.
The company plans to use the new investment to scale up its fast charge LiX or Lithium/XCu anode technologies that enable the next generation of solid-state batteries for electric vehicles and other energy storage applications. With this new investment, the company also plans to commercialize its technology and implement it across several industries.
Soelect develops solid-state battery components for electric vehicles, portable electronics, power tools, drones, aircraft, and other energy storage uses. Through its proprietary lithium-based metal foil, Soelect uses an advanced lithium anode technology – LiX or Lithium/XCu – that exceeds the power of the typical lithium-ion batteries. It also uses a polymer-based solid-state electrolyte instead of the usual liquid electrolytes used in lithium-ion batteries. In doing so, the company helps make batteries more efficient and less expensive.
According to the company, its battery technology can reach 100% charge in 15 minutes and shows 80% capacity retention over 400 use cycles.
Previously, Soelect raised $2.27 million in a seed round. Including the latest funding round, the company has raised $13.3 million to date.
“Lotte Chemical already has the strength of its advanced materials for Lithium-ion batteries. Based on these capabilities, we are expanding our investment in the field to lead next-generation batteries such as vanadium ion batteries and all solid-state batteries. We expect to accelerate the commercialization of Soelect’s innovative lithium metal anode and solid electrolyte technologies through the collaboration with Lotte Chemical,” said Park In-Ku, Vice President of Lotte Chemical.
According to Mercom’s recently published Q4 2021 and Annual funding and M&A report for storage, grid, and efficiency, VC funding for battery storage companies totaled $8.8 billion, compared to $1.6 billion in 2020, a 470% increase year over year.
Earlier this week, Texas-based Zeta Energy, a company focused on developing sustainable batteries for the electric vehicle and energy storage markets, raised $23 million in a Series A funding round led by Moore Strategic Ventures. In January, Skeleton Technologies, an Estonia-based manufacturer of ultracapacitor-based energy storage, raised $42.6 million in a Series D funding round from a group of investors. Including the latest round, the company has raised over $223 million to date.
