Bristol battery technology firm Anaphite is poised to disrupt the global electric vehicle market and break China’s near-monopoly on production after raising $13.7m (£10.5m) from a worldwide group of investors.
The funding round – Anaphite’s fourth in just three years – will enable it to fully commission a plant with the capacity to deliver tonnes of the firm’s patented composite cathode material. 
It will also now scale up and expand its in-house dry coating capability.
Anaphite was launched five years ago by university graduates Sam Burrow and Alex Hewitt to explore ways of exploiting the potential of graphene in the batteries.
The revolutionary material is stronger than steel and is a conductor of electricity and heat.
Its technology incorporates low-cost graphene into the cathode, enabling higher charge rates due to the high connectivity of the graphene.
The firm’s ‘dry’ manufacturing process does not require drying ovens, which it says can reduce the cost of battery cell manufacturing by up to 40% and reduce the carbon footprint of the process.
With 30% of the cost of an EV its battery, and half the battery’s cost its cathode, Anaphite believes the technology is ripe for innovation to drive down costs and raise performance – and using graphene to boost cathode efficiency could be the answer.
Anaphite’s latest £10.5m round demonstrates investor interest the technology and comes on the back of a £1.6m injection earlier this year, £4.1m last year and £1.2m in 2022.
The new funding will also support extensive new hires and further research and development investment to expand its technology portfolio.
The round was co-led by World Fund, Europe’s leading climate VC, and Maniv, a global early-stage VC focused on decarbonisation of transportation and digitisation of its value chains.
A cohort of top climate investors also joined, including Japan’s only venture capital firm exclusively focused on the environment and energy sectors EEI, and UK innovation agency, Nesta, with further participation from existing investors Elbow Beach Capital, which led the £1.6m round earlier this year and Wealth Club.
World Fund partner Craig Douglas said: “Anaphite’s unique technology and smart, tenacious, market-savvy team are set to disrupt the global EV market.
“Their technology is genuinely market-leading and will help the world transition to an eco-mobility future.
“The team has already made breakthroughs in lithium-ion battery production, and their technology will be applicable to a wide range of new battery technologies, including sodium-ion and solid state.
“Anaphite has the potential for exponential growth, and we at World Fund are proud to be supporting them as they grow.”
Maniv founding partner Michael Granoff added: “While the cost of batteries has declined precipitously over the last two decades, the raw materials, supply chains, and assembly have all become anomalously concentrated in a single country, China.
“We are confident that Anaphite’s proprietary technology finally moves the needle towards a more distributed and resilient battery supply chain, helping Western battery companies and automakers compete in the decades ahead.”
