Altris, a company that develops sodium-ion batteries, secured €4.8 million (~$5.2 million) in bridge financing from its current investors and employees. The funding will help the company scale its production and commercialize its technology.
Sodium-ion batteries use sodium instead of lithium as the main charge carrier. Sodium is abundant, low-cost, and environmentally friendly, making it an attractive option for energy storage applications. However, sodium-ion batteries face several technical challenges, such as low energy density, poor cycle life, and safety issues.
Altris claims to have overcome these challenges by developing a novel cathode material called Fennac, based on Prussian White, a framework material consisting of sodium, iron, carbon, and nitrogen. Altris also creates electrolytes, battery cells, and production blueprints for sodium-ion batteries.
The bridge financing will enable Altris to complete its industrial-grade battery manufacturing at a new facility in Uppsala.
“The bridge financing enables us to maintain a high pace in our development while preparing to raise our Series B financing,” said Christer Bergquist, appointed CFO of Altris.
Altris has also hired two experienced executives from the battery industry to accelerate its commercialization process. Björn Mårlid joins as CEO after 20+ years at French battery developer SAFT.
“Few battery innovations survive commercialization to become viable products – but Altris does. I look forward to playing a part in our continued development, moving towards large-scale deployment,” said Björn Mårlid, appointed CEO of Altris.
Recently, Energy Dome, a provider of long-duration energy storage solutions, raised €40 million (~$44 million) in a Series B funding round led by Eni Next and Neva SGR. The investment will help Energy Dome scale up its CO2 Battery technology, which uses carbon dioxide to store renewable energy on the grid.
According to Mercom’s Q1 2023 Storage and Smart Grid Funding and M&A Report, Total corporate funding—including venture capital (VC) funding, debt financing, and public market financing—in Energy Storage came to $2.2 billion in 27 deals compared to $4.3 billion in 31 deals in Q4 2022. Funding significantly decreased year-over-year (YoY) compared to $12.9 billion in 27 deals in Q1 2022.
