GM co-leads $39 million funding for EV battery materials startup Addionics

By Nick Carey

LONDON (Reuters) - Israeli battery technology company Addionics has raised $39 million from investors including General Motors' venture capital arm to help commercialise its copper and aluminium electrodes for electric vehicle batteries, it said on Thursday.

GM Ventures co-leads the B Series funding round with Israeli tech venture fund Deep Insight. Swedish truck maker Scania, owned by Volkswagen's Traton also participated in the investment round.

As well as investing in Addionics, GM and Scania are potential customers for the company's porous, three-dimensional copper and aluminium electrode battery materials that use less material - including 60% less copper.

Addionics says the electrodes, which look like sheer silk scarves when held up to the light, provide faster charging and boost EV range by 30%. It forecasts savings for automakers up to $7.50 per kilowatt hour.

"Addionics' current collector design shows promise in enabling improved battery performance at a lower cost," GM Ventures managing director Anirvan Coomer said in a statement. "We are eager to support the company's growth and look forward to continuing to explore opportunities to collaborate in the future."

Earlier this year, Addionics said it plans a $400 million U.S. factory to make copper anodes for EV batteries starting in 2027 to eventually supply enough for about 1 million EVs a year.

Addionics CEO Moshiel Biton said that in late 2024 the company will start delivering battery cells to automakers to test and that it is on track to deliver product at scale by 2027 or 2028.

He said the company has been working with or talking to virtually all the major automakers in Europe, Japan and the United States.

"Legacy automakers are losing money building EVs," Biton said. "Any technology that allows them to reduce cost and improve performance, that's the holy grail."

(Reporting By Nick Carey; editing by Barbara Lewis)