Unigrid Battery, a San Diego, CA-based startup developing advanced sodium-ion batteries, raised $12M in Series A funding.
The round was led by Transition VC and Ritz Venture Capital, with participation from Union Square Ventures and existing investor Foothill Ventures.
The company intends to use the funds to accelerate and scaleup its battery production to fulfill MWh-scale customer orders in the electric mobility and stationary storage markets.
Led by CEO Darren H. S. Tan, Unigrid specializes in sodium-ion battery technology innovation, focusing on:
- Developing high energy density sodium-ion batteries. Using its proprietary alloy anode technology, it addresses a crucial sodium-ion challenges, energy density. The battery chemistry doubles the volumetric energy density of sodium-ion and enables it to exceed the energy density of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries.
- Eliminating the use of critical or rarer materials such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, and copper, from its battery chemistry entirely, instead using only abundant materials.
- Achieving safety and performance metrics that exceed that of LFP.
Commenting on the news, Darren H. S. Tan said: “Advanced sodium-ion batteries will be a key enabler of widespread, distributed energy storage in the residential, commercial, and industrial markets. As a technology leader in this space, UNIGRID already has commercial-scale orders, and will use the funds to expand manufacturing and customer fulfillment capabilities.”
FinSMEs
13/06/2024