Gridtential Closes $12M Funding, Electrifies Market With Advanced AGM Battery Breakthrough
Inexpensive, recyclable lithium-ion alternative poised to transform transportation and home power storage
SANTA CLARA, Calif., April 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Gridtential Energy, the creator of advanced AGM battery technology Silicon Joule™, today announced $12M in financing led by 1955 Capital with participation from Silicon Valley Bank, August Capital cofounder David Marquardt, ReneSola CEO Yumin Liu and existing investors East Penn Manufacturing, Crown Battery and the Roda Group joining as well.
The latest funding will support a new production line of advanced lead reference batteries, including the world's first factory-ready single-block 24V deep-cycle lead battery, made possible by Gridtential's patented, solar-inspired Silicon Joule technology, Gridtential has raised $28M to date, requiring significantly less capital than other battery companies to reach commercial production.
Gridtential created Silicon Joule as a revolutionary alternative to lithium-ion based on readily available lead-battery technology and solar materials. Silicon Joule replaces the metal grids in conventional lead batteries with specially processed silicon wafers and an innovative stacked-cell architecture to reduce weight, increase power performance and extend cycle life, achieving new levels of performance while maintaining lead's significant cost advantages.
Silicon Joule batteries charge up to two times faster, last more than four times longer and weigh up to 30% less than conventional lead batteries. Plus they maintain the thermal stability and 99% recyclability of the conventional technology, creating a clear safety and sustainability advantage over lithium-ion.
Better yet, Silicon Joule batteries can be manufactured leveraging existing production equipment, so they're ready today to meet the worldwide demand for safe and sustainable energy storage. Major manufacturers East Penn, Crown and Leoch are fully licensed to mass-produce Silicon Joule batteries, and nine more manufacturing partners — most international — are piloting the technology. Several have already produced batteries off lines in their factories.
"Gridtential is addressing key challenges in the future of transportation and energy storage systems. High-performance, long-lasting batteries will power tomorrow's mobility in dense urban areas, especially in developing economies," said Andrew Chung, founder and managing partner at 1955 Capital. "We're eager to introduce Silicon Joule to suppliers and other partners who can help Gridtential bring this vitally important technology to markets around the world."
Silicon Joule's high performance, long life and light weight provides EV and hybrid-car manufacturers with a lower-cost, deep-discharge, rapid-recharge battery option for auxiliary batteries, drive-assist, start-stop and infotainment, helping manufacturers meet demand for affordable higher performance low-emissions vehicles. Silicon Joule is also ideally suited for personal mobility vehicles such as golf carts, scooters, e-bikes and e-tuk-tuks, as well as RVs and products that need to offer safe, long-lasting power at an affordable price, such as telecom backup or renewable energy storage systems in homes and offices.
"Providing affordable energy storage to power homes and vehicles is an urgent priority. We can't afford to wait for technology that hasn't made it out of the lab," said John Barton, CEO of Gridtential. "With Silicon Joule, we can use today's battery manufacturing and recycling facilities to reduce vehicle emissions and put renewable energy storage into homes, in high volumes, right now."
About Gridtential Energy
Gridtential is the creator of Silicon Joule™, breakthrough advanced AGM battery technology that provides a lower-cost, safer, greener alternative to lithium-ion. Inspired by solar technology, Silicon Joule dramatically improves power density, discharge rate and cycle life while reducing weight by 30%, delivering superior performance for deep-cycle and power applications including personal electric vehicles, renewable energy storage systems and hybrid automotive.
Gridtential Energy provides Silicon Joule™ reference batteries, development kits, bipolar materials and non-exclusive licenses, enabling manufacturing partners to easily adapt their factories to provide high-performing, higher voltage 24V, 36V & 48V batteries to their customers for the hybrid-automotive, Low-Speed EV (LSEV), energy storage system (ESS) & telecom backup markets, all without gigascale capital investments.
Silicon Joule is in use today by 12 battery partners and several OEMs. Based in Santa Clara, CA, Gridtential's investors include The Roda Group and 1955 Capital.
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SOURCE Gridtential Energy, Inc.
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