Nexeon raises £100 million to expand its UK silicon anode operations

Oxfordshire-based silicon anode developer Nexeon has closed a £100-million ($133-million) investment round, completed by a £52.6-million ($70-million) commitment from the UK’s National Wealth Fund. The Korea Development Bank and Honda Xcelerator Ventures, Honda’s open innovation investment program, also came in as new investors. The round follows the $170 million Nexeon raised in 2022 in a round that included Ingevity.

The National Wealth Fund’s financing will go toward a UK-based pilot manufacturing facility, R&D work and an expansion of Nexeon’s advanced manufacturing technology unit. A pilot line is where a materials supplier proves out a process at intermediate scale and makes the qualification samples cell manufacturers test before anyone commits to full production volumes.

Silicon holds far more lithium per gram than the graphite it replaces in a conventional lithium-ion anode, but it expands as it takes up that lithium, and containing the expansion over hundreds of cycles is the central engineering problem for silicon anode materials. Nexeon says its materials raise cell energy density, cut charging times and extend EV driving range.

Nexeon already makes silicon-carbon materials at a volume production plant in Gunsan, South Korea. The company has said it picked the site for pipeline supply of monosilane gas, a key precursor for the material, and for its proximity to Asian cell producers. The plant is designed so that additional reactors can be installed to scale output, according to the company.

“This investment is a strong endorsement of Nexeon’s technology and our role in enabling the next generation of lithium-ion batteries. The National Wealth Fund’s support reflects the strategic importance of our work, not only in advancing battery performance but also in strengthening the UK’s position in the global battery supply chain,” said Scott Brown, CEO of Nexeon.

Source: Nexeon