ACT-ion Battery Technologies, a Dallas-based startup in the lithium-ion battery cathode active materials field, has closed its $7.5 million Pre-Series A funding round led by BASF Venture Capital. Also participating in the round were Hunt Energy Enterprises, Mirae Asset Capital, Arosa Capital Management, and LG Technology Ventures.

“We’re excited to have the support of Pre-Series A investors who share our vision for battery materials and manufacturing,” Jin Lim, CTO and interim CEO of ACT-ion, said in a statement. “This funding will allow us to bring our innovative solutions to market faster and make a meaningful impact on the global energy landscape.”

Founded in 2019, ACT-ion has developed both an efficient and cost-effective means to produce single crystalline cathode active materials. The company said that a chemistry-agnostic process addresses a critical challenge in the lithium-ion battery value chain: the need to both reduce crystalline cathode active materials (CAM) production costs and increase production throughput.

ACT-ion said it will use the proceeds to accelerate its innovative CAM production technology, aiming to establish an operational pilot facility by 2025, with validations from leading industry partners.

ACT-ion recently received an R&D 100 award recognizing its innovation to overcome the complexity and cost of CAM manufacturing. ACT-ion said its continuous process generates coated single crystal CAM leading to higher performance and longer cycle life lithium-ion batteries.

ACT-ion said it has “successfully demonstrated” this manufacturing platform for a variety of chemistries.

View from investors, company background

Joshua Speros, investment manager at BASF Venture Capital, said that “with the market need for novel battery materials, and the processes to produce them, ACT-ion’s mission to improve CAM aligns well with BASF efforts to deliver innovation to our customers.” 

“The domestic production of battery materials at cost will mark a significant milestone in the US CAM industry,” Lillian Shattock, director of private investments at Arosa Capital Management, added in a statement. “We’re thrilled to support ACT-ion, as we believe their technology can be a pivotal enabler of domestic CAM manufacturing.”

Incubated within and spun out of Hunt Energy Enterprises, “the ACT-ion venture was developed to target the largest cost constraint within lithium batteries and thereby help enable growth for markets such as electric drones, electric vehicles and power tools,” ACT-ion Chairman Victor Liu said in a statement.

ACT-ion Battery Technologies is a leading lithium battery cathode active material (CAM) technology company. As an advanced manufacturing technology company, ACT-ion’s rapid continuous process produces coated single crystal CAMs for lithium batteries through a novel, clean, and chemistry-agnostic process, requiring lower energy and cost.

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