Anthro Closes $20M Series A Financing and Completes UN 38.3 Battery Certification

The financing was lead by Collaborative Fund and will be used to build a pilot facility in the Bay Area.

SAN JOSE, Calif., Feb. 29, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Anthro Energy today announced two major milestones: the closing of an over-subscribed $20M Series A financing round and completion of UN 38.3 battery certification, a key global safety standard for lithium battery transport. Collaborative Fund led the financing, with significant participation from existing investors including Union Square Ventures, Emerson Collective, and Voyager Ventures. Energy Revolution Ventures, Ultratech Capital Partners, Nor'easter Ventures, and Overlap Holdings also participated in the round. The funds will be used to build a Bay Area-based pilot production facility to commercialize and scale Anthro's advanced battery technologies.

Lithium-ion batteries are the core technology powering today's sustainability revolution?the electrification of everything. The drive to electrify our society hinges on enhancing battery performance. However, modern lithium-ion batteries face an inherent challenge: enhancing battery performance comes at the cost of battery safety and stability. This problem has been repeatedly underscored by an increasing number of catastrophic battery fires occurring each year.

"At Anthro, we have developed a scalable solution to solve the tradeoff between energy density and safety in lithium-ion batteries," said Anthro CEO David Mackanic, Ph.D. "Developers of electric devices are desperate for ways to package more energy in the same amount of space. Unfortunately, today's solutions to improve energy density, including new battery form factors and new battery chemistries, require unacceptable compromises in safety."

Anthro's key innovation is its advanced non-volatile and mechanically tunable polymer electrolyte. The company's proprietary polymer replaces the highly flammable liquid electrolyte in conventional lithium-ion batteries. "Our polymer electrolyte provides an unprecedented combination of performance, safety, and mechanical integrity," said Anthro CTO Joe Papp, Ph.D. "By replacing conventional liquid electrolytes with our polymer, we can enable new battery form factors and battery chemistries that can facilitate broader electrification efforts across our economy."

Anthro expects the high tunability of their polymer electrolyte system to enable widespread adoption across all industries that utilize lithium-ion batteries. By tweaking the chemical structure of the polymer backbone, Anthro's electrolyte can be rapidly adapted to satisfy bespoke performance requirements for various battery chemistries and applications. The company is developing an advanced data-driven optimization platform that leverages machine learning techniques to rapidly optimize their electrolytes for any use case.

Unlike many other emerging battery technologies, Anthro's polymer electrolyte is compatible with existing battery manufacturing lines. "What makes Anthro's technology so compelling is its versatility," said Sophie Bakalar, partner at Collaborative Fund. "Anthro's technology can drop into any of today's giga-scale manufacturing lines, imparting safety and structural integrity to batteries of any chemistry, for any application."

Today, Anthro also announced the successful completion of the UN 38.3 certification for battery cells that contain their proprietary polymer electrolyte. This certification, conducted by a third-party test lab, certifies the safe transportation of Anthro's cells and represents a critical milestone on their path to widespread, rapid commercialization. Anthro has already demonstrated significant market traction and technical validation, having successfully deployed prototype cells to customers in industries spanning from consumer electronics to electric vehicles. Moreover, Anthro has partnered with several external battery manufacturers to exhibit the technology's drop-in compatibility and versatility.

"Anthro has moved with impressive pace and agility to scale up and certify their battery technology," says Albert Wenger, managing partner at Union Square Ventures. "They've already shipped out hundreds of battery cells to satisfied customers and have a clear path to meet outstanding demand. We are excited to continue to work alongside Anthro and support their mission of creating a more sustainable future."

Anthro will use the Series A financing to expand their team and build a pilot-scale production facility in the Bay Area. This pilot facility will facilitate scale-up and commercialization of Anthro's polymer electrolyte and next-generation cell technology. Anthro is currently hiring for several high-impact roles across all business functions.

About Anthro

Anthro Energy Inc. is unlocking the full potential of lithium-ion batteries for the electric revolution. Anthro is an advanced materials company developing a scalable technology that solves the tradeoff between energy density and safety in today's batteries. Anthro's technology enables enhanced safety and stability, unprecedented performance, and radically new battery form factors. Spun out of Stanford University and based in San Jose, Ca., Anthro is proudly supported by world-class investors and a wide range of government grants.

About Collaborative Fund

Collaborative Fund is a network of fund managers investing across asset classes, identifying and supporting companies that live at the intersection of for-profit and for-good, and managing over $1B in the aggregate. Collaborative's venture efforts are known for early investments in companies across food, money, health, and climate ? such as Lyft, Sweetgreen, Beyond Meat, WHOOP, Dandelion Energy, and Brimstone. Please visit collabfund.com for more information.

About Union Square Ventures

Union Square Ventures is a thesis driven venture capital firm based in New York City. A core thesis at USV is the Climate Thesis, focused on investing in companies and projects that provide mitigation for or adaptation to the climate crisis. As one of their three funds, USV manages the Climate Fund, focused on investing in bits and atoms targeting primarily Series A opportunities. For more information, visit https://www.usv.com/.

Media Contact

David Mackanic, Anthro Energy, 1 4084615632, [email protected], https://www.anthroenergy.com/ 

SOURCE Anthro Energy