Anthro Energy announced two major milestones: the closing of an over-subscribed $20 million Series A financing round and the completion of UN 38.3 battery certification, a key global safety standard for lithium battery transport. Collaborative Fund led the financing, with significant participation from existing investors such as Union Square Ventures, Emerson Collective, and Voyager Ventures. Energy Revolution Ventures, Ultratech Capital Partners, Nor’easter Ventures, and Overlap Holdings. The funding will be used to build a Bay Area-based pilot production facility to commercialize and scale Anthro’s advanced battery technologies.
Lithium-ion batteries are considered the core technology powering today’s sustainability revolution. And the drive to electrify our society hinges on enhancing battery performance. But modern lithium-ion batteries face an inherent challenge: enhancing battery performance comes at the cost of battery safety and stability. An increasing number of yearly catastrophic battery fires has repeatedly underscored this problem.
Anthro’s key innovation is its advanced non-volatile and mechanically tunable polymer electrolyte, and the company’s proprietary polymer replaces the highly flammable liquid electrolyte in conventional lithium-ion batteries. And Anthro expects the high tunability of its polymer electrolyte system to enable widespread adoption across all industries that utilize lithium-ion batteries. By tweaking the chemical structure of the polymer backbone, Anthro’s electrolyte can be rapidly adapted to satisfy bespoke performance requirements for various battery chemistries and applications.
The company is developing an advanced data-driven optimization platform that utilizes machine learning techniques to optimize its electrolytes for any use case rapidly. And Anthro also announced the successful completion of the UN 38.3 certification for battery cells that contain their proprietary polymer electrolyte. This certification – conducted by a third-party test lab – certifies the safe transportation of Anthro’s cells and represents a critical milestone on their path to widespread, rapid commercialization.
Anthro has already demonstrated major market traction and technical validation, having successfully deployed prototype cells to customers in industries spanning from consumer electronics to electric vehicles. But Anthro has partnered with several external battery manufacturers to exhibit the technology’s drop-in compatibility and versatility.
Anthro will use the Series A funding round to expand its team and build a pilot-scale production facility in the Bay Area. And this pilot facility will facilitate scale-up and commercialization of Anthro’s polymer electrolyte and next-generation cell technology. Anthro is currently hiring for several high-impact roles across all business functions.
KEY QUOTES:
“At Anthro, we have developed a scalable solution to solve the tradeoff between energy density and safety in lithium-ion batteries. Developers of electric devices are desperate for ways to package more energy in the same amount of space. Unfortunately, today’s solutions to improve energy density, including new battery form factors and new battery chemistries, require unacceptable compromises in safety.”
- Anthro CEO David Mackanic, Ph.D.
“Our polymer electrolyte provides an unprecedented combination of performance, safety, and mechanical integrity. By replacing conventional liquid electrolytes with our polymer, we can enable new battery form factors and battery chemistries that can facilitate broader electrification efforts across our economy.”
- Anthro CTO Joe Papp, Ph.D.
“What makes Anthro’s technology so compelling is its versatility. Anthro’s technology can drop into any of today’s giga-scale manufacturing lines, imparting safety and structural integrity to batteries of any chemistry, for any application.”
- Sophie Bakalar, partner at Collaborative Fund
“Anthro has moved with impressive pace and agility to scale up and certify their battery technology. They’ve already shipped out hundreds of battery cells to satisfied customers and have a clear path to meet outstanding demand. We are excited to continue to work alongside Anthro and support their mission of creating a more sustainable future.”
- Albert Wenger, managing partner at Union Square Ventures
