Nyobolt secures tungsten supply and £50m Series B battery funding

Nyobolt, the fast-charge EV battery company which span out of the University of Cambridge in 2018, has raised £50million in a fundraising round that values the business at £300m.

The new investment will enable the company – originally CB2Tech – to begin the manufacturing-at-scale stage.

Co-founded by chief scientists Prof Dame Clare Grey and CEO Dr Sai Shivareddy, a Google scholar and former R&D manager at Talga Resources, Nyobolt was spun out of the Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry with a mission to commercialise high-performance battery and charging technologies for a world of five-minute charge times.

Nyobolt has been developing battery anodes using niobium and tungsten, which charge electric vehicles (EVs) in minutes. The new funding round has been led by HC Starck Tungsten Powders (HCS) – a subsidiary of Masan High-Tech Materials, one of the world’s largest tungsten suppliers – alongside existing deeptech investor IQ Capital. The investment – £45m of the £50m is from HC Starck, which takes a 15 per cent stake in Nyobolt – is set to drive Nyobolt’s market entry by establishing its presence and launching the manufacturing of millions of units next year.

HC Starck’s funding will underpin Nyobolt’s first UK materials manufacturing plant, as well as expansion of the US cell engineering facility and the teams’ global growth.

Prof Grey said: “We are excited to move our technologies from development to deployment in the market. We founded Nyobolt following the discovery of new anode technologies containing tungsten with remarkable fast charging capability to bring these properties to the market in applications touching all aspects of daily life. The funding from HC Starck will help Nyobolt to scale up our operations in the UK and US and bring a more sustainable solution into the energy storage industry.

“Nyobolt technology will not only enable net zero both in the electrification of transport, but also the storing of clean and renewable energy on and off the grid.

“With the investment from HC Starck, Nyobolt’s ultra-fast charging, high-power batteries will help lead the way towards achieving the clean energy goals set by governments around the world.”

Having secure access to tungsten in significant quantities is one part of what makes HC Starck a good fit. The investment and future collaboration includes a battery recycling programme for sustainable solutions to achieve net zero in multiple sectors: Nyobolt, which is based at The Bradfield Centre, has focused on EV racing thus far, though the technology means renewable energy on and off-grid including for fridges, cars, vans, motorbikes and electric aircraft.

Craig Bradshaw, CEO of Masan High-Tech Materials, said: “We look forward to working together with the Nyobolt team to advance their product and offering opportunities to partner in the manufacturing and commercialisation of their products as well as offering a full life cycle for the advanced strategic materials required in the Nyobolt batteries.”

Dr Shivareddy concluded: “Fast charging remains a critical unmet need as the world electrifies with more sustainable forms of energy – a need our technology addresses. We are excited about the partnership with HC Starck and see it as a stepping stone to increase scale and speed to market revealing the true potential of Nyobolt technologies. With HC Starck investment and technologies, Nyobolt will expand its manufacturing capabilities while minimising its carbon footprint with an effective recycle and reuse programme.”

HC Starck Tungsten Powders has decades of experience in recycling and access to the world’s largest tungsten reserves outside of China, owned by Masan, which ensure stable supply with conflict-free raw materials. HC Starck employs around 540 people at three production sites in Germany, Canada and China plus sales offices in the US and Japan. The company’s HQ is at its largest production site, in Goslar, Germany.

Dr Hady Seyeda, CEO of HC Starck Tungsten, said: “This investment marks a milestone in our strategy to move further downstream, and get closer to consumers by developing new, innovative applications including our recently trademarked ‘starck2charge’ battery materials product range. Nyobolt’s technology is a real breakthrough that we can help commercialise based on our vast experience in transferring innovative solutions into large-scale manufacturing.

“This partnership is also going to accelerate the development towards a circular economy for batteries via enhanced recycling and new models of use.”