Echion ramps niobium battery material rollout with another £10m

UK startup Echion Technologies has raised £10m (€12m, $12.6m) to accelerate the rollout of partners using its niobium-based material to make fast charging battery cells.

The funding will also support Echion’s growth in key markets by providing additional resources to connect cell manufacturers with industrial original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) developing heavy-duty industrial, commercial and mass-transport vehicles to use the XNO anode material. It already has a deal with heavy duty battery cell maker GUS in Taiwan.

The investment for the Cambridge-based company comes from Barclays Sustainable Impact Capital and existing investor BGF and follows a £29m round in July this year.

The XNO niobium-based microparticle anode material enables lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries to safely fast charge in less than ten minutes, maintain high energy densities even at extreme temperatures, and deliver high power across a cycle life of more than 10,000 cycles.

Earlier this month Echion opened the world’s largest niobium-based anode production facility in Brazil with partner CBMM. The plant can produce 2000 tonnes/year of XNO, equivalent to 1 GWh of Li-ion cells. This will enable Echion to meet the significant demand for XNO across its global customer base of cell manufacturers and OEMs.

“This investment by Barclays and BGF is strong recognition of the value delivered by XNO,” said Jean de La Verpilliere, CEO of Echion. “By utilising XNO, cell manufacturers can deliver the most-innovative, sustainable, and high performing batteries to facilitate the effective electrification of heavy-duty vehicles. It is gratifying to have some of the world’s leading investors support our ambitions and cement their belief in XNO® by investing significant capital. Their investment will enable us to take the next major step forward in our fast-moving company journey.”

Applications using XNO niobium battery cells include battery electric and hybrid trains, mining haul trucks, electric buses, heavy-duty industrial transport and delivery vehicles.