Sicona raises $22m for next-generation battery expansion

Australian battery technology start-up Sicona announced today it has raised $22 million in Series A funding to further expand its development plans in Australia and the United States, taking the total raised to date to $30.7 million.

The investment was led by India’s Himadri, a global chemical conglomerate which has a multi-decade track record of manufacturing materials at scale.

“Their expertise and inputs will be a major asset to us in the next phases of our growth plans,” Sicona CEO and co-founder Christiaan Jordaan says.

“Welcoming one of the leading global speciality chemical companies as a strategic investor in our Series A round allows us to accelerate our mission of becoming a major producer of cost-effective silicon composite anode materials.”

Other investors include Australian venture capital investor Artesian, and a Waratah Capital managed fund Electrification & Decarbonization AIE LP.

Riverstone Ventures, Chaos Ventures, Investible Climate Tech Fund LP, and Club Investible also participated in the funding round.

 

Founded in 2019, Wollongong-based Sicona’s silicon-composite anode technology delivers a higher capacity than conventional graphite anodes and higher cell energy density than current Li-ion batteries.

“Sicona’s core product is an innovative silicon metal-based silicon-composite battery anode technology enabling more than 50 per cent increase in energy density of existing Li-ion batteries,” Jordaan says.

In announcing their investment in Sicona to the National Stock Exchange of India, Himadri Speciality Chemical Ltd chairman and managing director Anurag Choudhary said Sicona was a “strategic fit” for his company.

“Sicona’s groundbreaking research and cost-effective and highly scalable approach to silicon anode manufacturing perfectly complements our strategic objectives,” Mr Choudhary says.

“We are extremely confident of Sicona’s team and technology and its ability to consistently innovate in the rapidly evolving battery technology landscape.”

The company develops low cost, scalable next-generation battery materials technology used in lithium-ion batteries that enable electric-mobility and storage of renewable energy.

“Our silicon metal-based technology decouples us from the major bottlenecks and cost implications of silane gas-based technologies and provides our customers the confidence that we can deliver a silicon-carbon anode material at a capital intensity,” Jordaan says.

“Our mission is to deliver enabling technologies that persistently tear up the envelope on battery and battery materials performance and innovation, producing best in class materials in a scalable, cost-effective way to power a sustainable future.”