30 Percent Cost Reduction in Battery Production: Swiss Startup 8inks Successfully Closes Three Million Euro Pre-Seed Funding Round.
Battery startup 8inks, which has developed a multi-layer coating technology for scalable lithium-ion battery production reducing production costs by 30 percent, has successfully closed a pre-seed round of nearly three million euros. The round was led by Founderful, with additional capital contributed by Übermorgen Ventures among others. With these funds, 8inks plans to scale its already validated and patented production technology, thereby making a significant contribution to the storage of green energy and the success of the mobility transition.
The trillion-dollar battery industry is booming, driven largely by demand for electric vehicles. The challenge: Unlike battery design and materials research, battery manufacturing technology has remained largely unchanged for decades, despite its huge potential. Traditional single-layer manufacturing technology is reaching its limits with new battery designs due to high costs. 8inks overcomes the current challenges in battery technology with its manufacturing platform: With a multi-layer process technology that can produce both new and established battery designs and materials up to ten times faster. On average, cost savings of 30 percent can be achieved.
A Revolution in Production Technology
8inks, a spin-off from ETH Zurich, has developed a battery manufacturing process that borrows techniques from the paper and photographic industries. A multi-layer coating process reduces both capital and operating costs. At the same time, the process significantly improves the energy density of the batteries. 8inks thus achieves a balance between production demands and battery power. The patented production technology has already been validated in 8inks’ lab and an external test facility. The capital raised in the pre-seed round will be used to quantify the levers of the technology in a pilot plant on an industrial scale. In addition to Founderful and Übermorgen Ventures, Angel Invest, another.vc, Venture Kick, the ETH Foundation and Business Angels also contributed fresh capital to the nearly three million euro pre-seed financing.
Application Example: Solid-State Batteries for Electromobility
Batteries are a critical factor in revolutionizing the transportation and mobility industries. Solid-state batteries, such as the next generation of lithium-ion batteries, can solve many of the problems of conventional liquid-electrolyte batteries. They are lighter, smaller, faster to recharge, and safer. What has been lacking, however, is a scalable manufacturing solution. 8inks’ technology can enable mass production of the next generation of lithium-ion batteries. The company is already working with major automotive customers.
From $20 billion in early 2020, the battery industry is expected to grow to more than half a trillion dollars by 2030 – a CAGR of 35 percent. The market for solid-state batteries alone is expected to reach $400 billion by 2035. 8inks aims to provide customized solutions for battery cell manufacturers, other original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and vehicle manufacturers, depending on the battery performance characteristics that are prioritized. In addition to production costs and energy density, other levers for individual battery performance optimization include power density, safety and recyclability.
Dr. Paul Baade co-founded 8inks based on years of battery research while a Pioneer Fellow at ETH Zurich. In addition to Paul Baade (CEO), the founding team consists of Leon Baade (CBO, Chief Business Officer), who has extensive experience in global technology go-to-market roles and working with automotive companies; Dr. Christina Sauter (CTO) and Dr. Karl-Philipp Schlichting (COO), both specialized in battery technology and nanoscience for energy technology. The company currently employs eight people and is located in Schlieren, Canton of Zurich. The research and technology transfer was supported with a total of 1.6 million euros in funding from Innosuisse, the Gebert Rüf Foundation, Switzerland Innovation, KlimUp and the Swiss Climate Foundation.
Paul Baade, CEO of 8inks, says:
The early adopter phase of e-mobility is over.
“Now it’s a matter of reaching the masses. Batteries are still not powerful enough and too expensive. With 8inks, we have developed a lever to solve this problem through innovation in manufacturing technology. Our technology makes batteries more powerful and cheaper to produce.”
Lukas Weder, Partner at Founderful says:
The market for electric vehicles and therefore for batteries is developing rapidly: 8inks operates in a trillion dollar growth market.
“We are convinced that the founder team’s innovation in production technology will be a decisive contribution to the mass production of solid-state batteries and thus to the transformation of mobility.”
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30 Percent Cost Reduction in Battery Production: Swiss Startup 8inks Successfully Closes Three Million Euro Pre-Seed Funding Round.
