CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--24M announced today it has raised a $56.8 million Series E to commercialize its simple, capital-efficient, low-cost SemiSolidTM manufacturing process and expand its technology development programs for grid storage and electric vehicle applications.
The financing was led by global trading company ITOCHU Corporation and as a part of the financing, Hiroaki Murase, General Manager of the Sustainable Energy Business Department, of ITOCHU will join 24M’s Board of Directors. Also participating in the round were new investors Fujifilm Corporation and Mirai Creation Fund II along with previous investors, including Kyocera Corporation, Global Power Synergy Public Company Ltd (GPSC) and North Bridge Venture Partners.
24M’s innovative SemiSolidTM manufacturing platform delivers market-leading price-performance. SemiSolidTM electrodes use no binder, mixing electrolyte with active materials to form a clay-like slurry with unique attributes. As a result, the 24M process eliminates the need for a significant amount of inactive materials and capital-intensive processes like drying and electrolyte filling, thus dramatically reducing manufacturing cost.
“We, along with our licensee partners, have made tremendous progress commercializing the SemiSolidTM platform over the past year,” said Naoki Ota, President and CEO of 24M. “During that time we have been able to substantially improve the performance and safety of our cells while our license partners, Kyocera and GPSC, have expanded their commercial operations.”
“We continue to see rapidly increasing demand for lithium-ion batteries due to accelerating growth in electric vehicles and renewable energy, and the SemiSolidTM platform offers the best combination of cost and performance to address that need,” said Hiroaki Murase. “Through this investment and our ongoing partnership with 24M, ITOCHU will continue its activities to find partners to rapidly expand the global production of SemiSolidTM lithium-ion batteries.”
About 24M
24M answers the world’s need for affordable energy storage by enabling a new, more cost-effective solution — SemiSolid™ lithium-ion technology. By re-inventing the design of the battery cell as well as the manufacturing method, 24M solves the critical, decades-old challenge associated with the world’s preferred energy storage chemistry: reducing its high cost while improving its safety, reliability and performance. Founded and led by some of the battery industry’s foremost inventors, scientists and entrepreneurs, 24M is headquartered in Cambridge, Mass. For more information, please visit www.24-m.com.
