CU Boulder battery tech spinout Solid Power and Ford will collaborate on delivering a solid-state cell for electric vehicles using the spinout's production facility.

Solid Power, a US-based solid-state battery manufacturing spinout of University of Colorado Boulder, has added investors including carmaker Ford to a series A round that stood at $26m as of this January. Battery tech-focused VC fund Volta Energy Technologies has also joined the round, which follows an initial $20m series A tranche in September 2018 backed by Hyundai Cradle, the collaborative innovation unit of car manufacturer Hyundai, and Samsung Venture Investment Corporate, an investment subsidiary of consumer electronics corporate Samsung. Automotive parts maker Sanoh Industrial also featured in the first series A close, as did Solvay Ventures, an investment arm of chemicals supplier Solvay, and A123 Systems, a subsidiary of car components maker Wanxiang. Solid Power revealed in a regulatory filing in January 2019 that it had extended the series A round to $26m, with a $31m target, however it remains unclear whether the round has reached that size. Founded in 2011, Solid Power is preparing to launch a manufacturing facility for all-solid-state batteries, a form of energy storage that possesses a solid electrolyte core rather than the flammable liquids present in conventional lithium cells. Replacing the liquid reduces the likelihood of battery failure, in theory removing the need to cost in safety modules when manufacturing batteries for applications including electric vehicles (EVs). Solid-state cells also offer improved energy availability, which would enable EVs to be recharged faster and extend their driving range. Ford is to collaborate with Solid Power on commercialising solid-state batteries for EVs, utilising the latter’s production plant once it becomes operational in the second quarter of 2019. In addition to EVs, Solid Power is targeting sectors such as aerospace, medical devices and defence. The spinout also has a partnership in place with Ford’s peer BMW.

Subscribe to go deeper

GCV subscribers get access to all our proprietary data and deep-dive articles, as well as the global directory of CVC investors.



Not sure if you have a subscription?