A Bristol-based graphene technology pioneer, Anaphite raised £4.1 million in seed funding. The investment round was led by Elbow Beach Capital, which invested £1.5 million and backed Munro and WASE. The rest of the investment came from Wealth Club, Blue Wire Capital, Oxford Investment Opportunity Network, Zero Carbon Capital, Silicon Roundabout Ventures, and Deeptech Labs.
Growth plans ahead
The proceeds of this round will be used to open licence negotiations with a material supplier or cell manufacturer, build a materials demonstration reactor with a 100kg/day production volume, test potential niche applications for Anaphite’s technology, and complete a 10m roll-to-roll coating line demonstrating Anaphite’s novel low energy battery production process by the end of 2023. Anaphite aims for its technology to be used in commercial EV production by 2028.
Jon Pollock, CEO of Elbow Beach Capital, commented: “It’s been a pleasure to get to know Alex, Sam, and the Anaphite team. The advancement of lithium-ion battery technology is an essential part of the green energy transition and Anaphite’s technology has the potential to accelerate the already rapidly growing EV market.”
Alexander Hewitt, COO and Co-founder of Anaphite: “I’m excited to have such a great group of investors joining our existing backers as we move forward into the next stage of our growth. I truly believe we are in a great position to have a significant impact in the fight against climate change by accelerating the mass adoption of EVs with our fast-charging graphene technology.”
Alex Davies, CEO and Founder, Wealth Club, added: “Anaphite is developing what could potentially be ground-breaking technology for use in electric-vehicle batteries, and may also have greater sector applications as graphene technologies become more widely adopted.”
Appoints new CEO
Anaphite’s next phase of growth will be led by Joe Stevenson, who is joining Anaphite as CEO in September. Joe brings over 20 years of experience in the commercial and engineering sectors, having most recently been employed as a Commercial Director for Arcola Energy and Ballard Motive Solutions. Prior to this, Joe was a Corporate Strategy Director at Johnson Matthey.
In addition to the investment, Jon Pollock has joined Anaphite’s Board of Directors as a representative of Elbow Beach Capital with immediate effect. Elbow Beach Capital Advisory Board member, Dr. Johnathan Matlock becomes a Board Advisor to the company.
Develop next-generation clean technologies
Anaphite was founded in 2018 by Sam Burrow and Alex Hewitt, who both had a passion to develop next-generation clean technologies. It works with the vision to accelerate the mass adoption of battery electric vehicles by developing and licensing technologies that enable faster charging, increased range, and lower-cost batteries.
The company is creating patent-pending self-assembly technology to develop graphene-enhanced cathodes and novel coating methods for EV batteries, especially Li-ion batteries.
Anaphite’s technology enables graphene to be a direct “drop-in” to battery manufacturers’ existing production lines, enabling easier adoption and incorporation into existing processes.
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