Mitra Future Technologies – a leading innovator in North American production of lithium-ion battery materials – recently announced the completion of a $40 million first close of $60 million Series B funding round led by GM. This funding round will fuel Mitra Chem’s mission to develop, deploy and commercialize U.S.-made iron-based cathode materials to enable mass-market electrification for electric vehicles, energy storage solutions, and beyond.
As part of the partnership with GM, Mitra Chem is going to develop iron-based cathode active materials (CAM) like lithium manganese iron phosphate (LMFP) to power affordable and accessible EV batteries compatible with GM’s EV propulsion architecture, the Ultium Platform. And GM’s funding will enable Mitra Chem to scale its current R&D and pilot operations to expedite bringing their battery materials to market.
Mitra Chem has been at the forefront of battery technology research as the company focuses on developing sustainable, high-performance energy storage solutions. And Mitra Chem’s proprietary technology and development process shortens the lab-to-market timeline by >90%. The company is one of the only companies taking a multi-faceted approach by combining R&D, machine learning acceleration, and manufacturing to supply battery materials to OEM and battery cell customers. Mitra Chem’s battery R&D facility is able to synthesize and test thousands of cathode designs monthly, ranging in size from grams to kilograms. These processes drive significantly shortened learning cycles, enabling shorter time to market for new battery cell formulas.
The “atoms-to-tons acceleration platform” powers Mitra Chem’s lab, using simulations and physics-informed machine learning models to accelerate formulation discovery, cathode synthesis optimization, cell-lifetime evaluation, and process scale-up. And the in-house cloud platform, purpose-built for battery cathode development, automate data ingestion across diverse synthesis, material characterization, cell prototyping, and standardized analyses and visualizations.
Lithium-ion batteries are one of the key platform technologies enabling electrification in transportation, consumer electronics, and residential, commercial, and grid-scale energy storage. Mitra Chem is positioned to disrupt these vital battery materials’ global production and supply chain and revitalize the North American battery supply chain industry.
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) passage has supercharged demand for U.S.-made battery materials by offering consumer tax credits tied to domestically manufactured material usage. And Mitra Chem is one of the only U.S.-based iron-based cathode manufacturers that enable purchasers of U.S.-made electric vehicles to qualify for the full suite of tax credits passed in the IRA.
The company also has additional requests for samples to cover the next year of production, including nearly every global Tier 1 battery cell maker and multiple household name automotive OEMs.
The growing strategic relationship with GM is going to enable Mitra Chem to utilize GM’s industry expertise and global reach, accelerating the development and commercialization of its iron-based cathode technology. And the additional funding will go to scale current operations and support accelerating commercialization.
Along with GM, other notable investors participating in the Series B funding round include incumbents such as Social Capital, Fontinalis Partners, Earthshot Ventures, The Keffi Group, Boutique Venture Partners, and new investors like GS Futures, Bricks Capital Management, Zeon Ventures, Scribble VC, WovenEarth Ventures, Bonds Investment Group, and others. The involvement of these esteemed investors underscores the industry’s recognition of Mitra Chem’s groundbreaking technology and its potential to shape the future of battery energy storage with a focus on US-based production. And the involvement of both financial and strategic investors underscores the industry’s recognition of Mitra Chem’s groundbreaking technology and its potential to shape the future of battery energy storage with a focus on US-based production. In November 2021, the company completed a $20 million Series A round which was led by Social Capital and Chamath Palihapitiya along with Taiwanese industrialist Richard Tsai, Fontinalis Partners, Boutique Venture Partners, Integrated Energy Materials, and Earthshot Ventures.
KEY QUOTES:
“GM’s investment in Mitra Chem will not only help us develop affordable battery chemistries for use in GM vehicles but also will fuel our mission to develop, deploy and commercialize U.S. made, iron-based cathode materials that can power EVs, grid-scale electrified energy storage and beyond.”
— Mitra Chem CEO and Co-Founder Vivas Kumar
“This is a strategic investment that will further help reinforce GM’s efforts in EV batteries, accelerate our work on affordable battery chemistries like LMFP and support our efforts to build a North America-focused battery supply chain. GM is accelerating larger investments in critical subdomains of battery technology, like cell chemistry, components and advanced cell production processes. Mitra Chem’s labs, tools and talent will fit well with our own R&D team’s work.”
— Gil Golan, GM vice president, Technology Acceleration Commercialization
