Elbow Beach Capital Leads Seed Round into Anaphite

26 August 2022

 

Anaphite is helping to power the sustainable energy revolution by incorporating graphene into the next generation of lithium-ion batteries

Elbow Beach Capital, the decarbonisation, sustainability and social impact investor, announces a £1.5 million investment into graphene technology innovators, Anaphite leading a £4.1m seed round supported by Wealth Club, Blue Wire Capital, Oxford Investment Opportunity Network, Zero Carbon Capital, Silicon Roundabout Ventures and Deeptech Labs.

Graphene, only discovered in 2004, is a unique material with many desirable properties such as high electrical and thermal conductivity and significant strength. While Graphene has utility on its own, its properties are fully harnessed once incorporated into other materials. Anaphite incorporates graphene into battery materials, via an inexpensive and scalable process that fits directly into existing cell production lines.

Anaphite focuses on the enhancement of lithium-ion batteries for the electric vehicle industry. Roughly 30% of an EV’s costs come from its battery, and Anaphite’s technology can reduce battery manufacturing costs by over 10%. The company’s technology also improves battery capacity and charge rates, potentially reducing charging time by 50%.

By reducing manufacturing costs and improving charge rates and capacity, Anaphite helps EV manufacturers overcome three of the key commercial barriers to genuine mass adoption of Li-ion batteries. Bolstered by the upcoming ban in 2035 on all new sales of petrol and diesel cars in the UK, Europe and US, there will be considerable and accelerated demand for reliable and economic EVs. It is estimated that over 50% of all cars in the UK will be electric by 2050.

The proceeds of this round will be used to open licence negotiations with a material supplier or cell manufacturer, build a materials demonstration reactor with 100kg/day production volume. Test potential niche applications for Anaphite’s technology, for example in drones or e-bikes, validate the company’s battery prototype with an OEM, and complete a 10m roll-to-roll coating line demonstrating Anaphite’s novel low energy battery production process by the end of 2023. Anaphite aims for its technology to be used in commercial EV production by 2028.

Anaphite’s next phase of growth will be led by Joe Stevenson, who is joining Anaphite as CEO in September. Joe brings over 20 years of experience in the commercial and engineering sectors, having most recently been employed as a Commercial Director for Arcola Energy and Ballard Motive Solutions. Prior to this, Joe was a Corporate Strategy Director at Johnson Matthey.

Jon Pollock, CEO of Elbow Beach Capital, commented: “It’s been a pleasure to get to know Alex, Sam and the Anaphite team. The advancement of lithium-ion battery technology is an essential part of the green energy transition and Anaphite’s technology has the potential to accelerate the already rapidly growing EV market.”

Alexander Hewitt, COO and Co-founder of Anaphite: “I’m excited to have such a great group of investors joining our existing backers as we move forward into the next stage of our growth. I truly believe we are in a great position to have a significant impact in the fight against climate change by accelerating the mass adoption of EVs with our fast-charging graphene technology.”

Alex Davies, CEO and Founder, Wealth Club, added: “Anaphite is developing what could potentially be ground-breaking technology for use in electric-vehicle batteries, and may also have greater sector applications as graphene technologies become more widely adopted.”

 

Jon Pollock has joined Anaphite’s Board of Directors as a representative of Elbow Beach Capital with immediate effect. Elbow Beach Capital Advisory Board member, Dr Johnathan Matlock acts as a Board Advisor to the company.