Japan-based lithium-ion battery developer APB raised ¥8bn ($74.4m) in funding today from investors including corporates JFE Chemical, JXTG, Nagase, Obayashi, Teijin and Yokogawa Electric.
Industrial, mining and petroleum group JXTG Holdings took part through subsidiary JXTG Innovation Partners while coal chemistry technology provider JFE Chemical, construction firm Obayashi Corporation, textile manufacturer Teijin and industrial technology producers Nagase & Co and Yokogawa Electric invested directly.
The round also featured Keio Innovation Initiative (KII), a joint venture capital vehicle for Keio University and securities brokerage Nomura Holdings.
APB is developing bipolar lithium-ion batteries utilising speciality chemicals producer Sanyo Chemical Industries’ surface active technology, where the battery’s electrodes are formed through a resin current collector.
The active agents in the model have a resin layer coating, which enables costs to be reduced in the manufacturing phase, resulting in products with a higher energy density in comparison to conventional batteries with metal-based current collectors.
The company was founded in October 2018 through a partnership between KII and Keio University professor Hideaki Horie.
JFE Chemical had already contributed to a round of undisclosed size for APB in April 2019 that took place two months after a business and financial partnership agreement with Sanyo Chemical Industries.
APB will use the latest funding to set up a mass-production plant for its all-polymer batteries, accelerate growth with the support of new and existing partners, and implement a new production system.
