Nexeon, an Abingdon, UK-based battery materials and licensing company that develops silicon anodes for lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, has received a £40m investment.
The round was led Imperial Innovations Group plc (AIM: IVO), which invested £15.0m, with participation from existing shareholder Invesco Perpetual.
Following the transaction, Innovations will hold a 40% (33.5% fully diluted) stake in Nexeon.
Formed in 2005, the company has raised £55m over four funding rounds.
The new funding round will enable Nexeon to scale up scale-up the production of its silicon anode materials to commercial levels and support its manufacturing facility in Abingdon.
Led by CEO Scott Brown, Nexeon develops silicon anodes, which are designed to unlock the potential of silicon to deliver increased capacity without compromising lithium-ion battery cycle life, providing lighter batteries with more power and longer lifetime between charges. Li-ion batteries are widely used in consumer electronic applications such as laptops, mobile phones, and tablet computers, and in electric and hybrid vehicles.
The company has already signed Material Evaluation Agreements with a number of battery manufacturers.
In conjunction with the funding, Russ Cummings, Innovations’ CIO, joins Nexeon’s board. Paul Atherton, a non-executive director of Innovations, is Chairman.
FinSMEs
05/08/2011