Customcells, a Germany-based battery developer, has closed a €60-million Series A funding round. Europe’s leading climate-tech venture capitalist World Fund is a lead investor together with the Hamburg family office Abacon Capital.

With the money, Customcells wants to expand its activities in the electrification of air traffic, intensify research and development work and promote internationalization.

Our goal is to create and shape a new premium segment in the international market for battery cells. This includes a next generation of battery cells that are developed and produced tailor-made to the needs of our customers. Customcells is to become a global player—an independent, large premium brand in the global battery cell business.

—,Dirk Abendroth, CEO of the Customcells Group

Existing investor Vsquared Ventures once again increased its stake in the company. Porsche, a second existing investor, also took part in the financing round. The seed investor 468 Capital will remain involved in the company in the future, as will Primepulse. The Customcells founders Leopold König and Torge Thönnessen remain the largest shareholders of the company even after funding.

Customcells—with locations in Itzehoe and Tübingen—is a spin-off of the Fraunhofer Society and has been active in the development and series production of state-of-the-art lithium-ion battery cells for more than 10 years. The company works along the entire value chain from development to certification and series production to recycling.

With the investor money, Customcells wants, among other things, to expand its position in the electrification of aviation faster and create competitive advantages through a First2Market approach. These include significantly more powerful battery cells compared to competition and certifications by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA).

The company wants to accelerate its technological advantage further through significantly increased research and development activities. Specifically, a total of 50 patents will be applied for in 2022; in years following they are to be significantly expanded.