Feon Energy, an advanced battery electrolyte startup that spun out of Stanford University, announced the recent closing of a $6.1 million seed round enabling the development of next-gen batteries. The funding round was led by Fine Structure Ventures, with participation from Eight Roads, Foothill Ventures, MassVentures, EPS Ventures, and Valkyrie Fund.
This new funding round will enable Feon to expand its world-class R&D team, scale up its high-throughput molecular discovery platform, and accelerate commercial engagement with leading battery and automotive players.
Feon Energy is innovating a new platform approach to create new electrolyte molecules and formulations purposefully designed for advanced battery chemistries like lithium-metal and cobalt-free ultra-high-voltage lithium-ions. And their non-flammable liquid electrolyte solutions enable advanced batteries with higher energy density, improved safety, lower cost, and more supply chain resilience than lithium-ion batteries.
Feon’s electrolyte platform technology provides unique advantages, including the ability to simultaneously address multiple future chemistries and seamless integration into existing battery manufacturing processes for a molecular-level understanding that enables continuous innovation.
Since launching in late 2022, Feon hit several key milestones. As its first product, Feon has developed lithium-metal batteries with energy densities over 400 Wh/kg, 50% higher than today’s lithium-ion batteries. And it has started to ship such pre-A samples to leading automotive, aviation, and consumer electronics OEMs. Critically, these lithium-metal cells have obtained UN 38.3 safety certification – an international standard for safely transporting lithium batteries.
Meeting UN 38.3 requirements with rigorous third-party testing confirms that Feon’s batteries can withstand extreme conditions like short-circuiting, crushing, vibration, forced discharge, and exposure to high temperatures. And this critically important safety validation paves the way for commercial deployment of Feon’s high-energy lithium-metal solution.
KEY QUOTES:
“Electrolytes are the key enabler for unlocking next-generation batteries but have been a major bottleneck holding back their commercialization. Our pharma-inspired molecule design platform allows us to invent new electrolyte molecules tailored for each chemistry’s unique needs, rather than force-fitting existing materials.”
- Wenxiao Huang, co-founder, and CEO of Feon Energy
“Electrolytes are a critical piece of the battery puzzle that has been underserved and overlooked for too long. Feon’s innovative molecular approach positions them to play a key enabling role in commercializing advanced batteries across multiple chemistries and applications.”
- Jennifer Uhrig, Senior Managing Director at Fine Structure Ventures
