Sodium-ion battery cathode material company Altris secures €9.6 million in Series A funding
22 March 2022
Uppsala-based sodium-ion battery company Altris AB (earlier post) raised €9.6 million in a Series A funding round. The funding secures Altris’ production scale-up of the company’s innovative battery cathode material, Fennac, to 2,000 tonnes, enabling 1 GWh of sustainable batteries and further research and development of sodium-ion batteries to take place.
Fennac (often called “Prussian White” among battery researchers) is a framework material consisting of sodium, iron carbon and nitrogen (NaxFe[Fe(CN)6] with x>1.9). The large pores inside the material enable the capture and storage of a range of atoms or molecules making the compound highly interesting for a range of applications.
The utilization of the iron as a source of electrons and completely filling the material with sodium provides a theoretical capacity of 170 mAh/g and average voltage output of 3.2 V vs sodium.
Altris produces the world's first high performing sodium-ion cathode material made from entirely sustainable and low-cost materials that are available in abundance, without any cobalt, nickel or copper. Altris also uses an innovative and patented manufacturing method for Fennac that is low-cost and more environmentally friendly compared to the alternatives.
The company sells Fennac to battery-cell producers, which can use existing lithium-ion manufacturing processes and equipment to produce Fennac-based batteries. This simple transition enables a smooth adaptation, a quick scale-up of sodium-ion battery production, and a fast market introduction.
Altris supports cell manufacturers in this transition with samples and material expertise to develop Fennac-based batteries and in-house competence in sodium-ion battery manufacturing.
Interest was shown throughout the round from investors such as Molindo Energy, Northvolt and EIT InnoEnergy,, the company said. The round was completed through a combination of new investors and existing investors continuing their participation.
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