New York’s GDI bags €13.5M, to produce silicon anode technology in the Netherlands

New York-based GDI, a global researcher and manufacturer of silicon anode technology, announced on Wednesday that it has raised $13.3M (approximately €13.5M) in a Series A round of funding led by EIT InnoEnergy and Helios Climate Ventures.

GDI says the fresh capital will help it to scale production to over 100MWh by Q1 2024. GDI has already started its pilot production in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, and intends to reach 300kWh by the end of 2022.

The recent $13.3M adds to $3M (approximately €3M) in government funding from the US Army Research Labs, a Phase II SBIR from the US Department of Energy and the US Defense Logistics Agency.

GDI: What you need to know

Based out of Rochester, New York, GDI develops and manufactures next-generation 100 per cent silicon battery anodes in a scalable and cost-effective process for superior battery performance over standard lithium-ion batteries. 

Silicon, in general, can store vast amounts of Li-ions at rapid speeds, enabling sub 15-minute charging speeds and EVs with over 500 miles of range. 

However, most manufacturers can only use a small amount of silicon in their batteries due to production limitations. 

GDI aims to change this with its patented silicon battery materials by addressing three main problems:

• Limited life cycle 
• Safety issues 
• Unscalable/prohibitively expensive manufacturing

“The future of Li-ion anodes is silicon. GDI is achieving three critical objectives; full substitution of silicon for graphite/carbon in Li-ion batteries, using a massively scalable domestic manufacturing method, and achieving industrial relevant cost to performance targets,” says Robert Anstey, Founder and CEO of GDI.

GDI batteries use the power of Silicon to achieve faster charging times (10-75 per cent in 15 minutes), greater energy density (>30 per cent), and superior reliability and safety.

In various stages, the company has over 10 US and over 25 pending patents globally. 

The company has also demonstrated its anode’s performance by testing multi-layered pouch cells that can charge from 10-75% state of charge in just 15 minutes over 600 times in a row

without plating lithium or failing, and without added compression or added lithium, as competitors require. 

GDI is manufacturing anodes on industrial solar and glass manufacturing equipment used worldwide at volumes of millions of square meters per year. 

Investor

Helios Climate Ventures aims to be part of the solution to climate change by quickly developing and scaling breakthrough technology solutions. The VC invests in earlier stage, high impact, high return companies.

“This funding will help GDI move to the forefront of the high-performance battery market, as advanced silicon anodes accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles and improve performance of electronic products worldwide with faster charging times, greater energy density, and enhanced safety,” said Josh Grehan, Principal at Helios Climate Ventures.

EIT InnoEnergy backs innovations across a range of areas, including energy storage, transport and mobility, renewables, and sustainable buildings and cities, leveraging its ecosystem of 500+ partners and 27 shareholders.

“GDI’s ability to seamlessly integrate into existing lithium battery architecture and production lines offer high cost and time-to-market advantages. But, equally important, the use of a silicon anode reduces the dependency of traditionally imported materials like graphite, making the European battery value chain more resilient as well as increasing domestic content,” says Roel van Diepen, Investment Director at EIT InnoEnergy, the innovation engine for sustainable energy supported by the European Institute of Innovation & Technology, a body of the European Union (EU).