Los Angeles-based Nanot
ech Energy has announced the official close of its Series C round of funding. This round was expected to close at $25 million, yet included an option to allow for an additional $2.5 million for a total of $27.5 million invested.
This round of funding with such high-level and committed investors validates the need the international market has for our proprietary battery technology, said Dr. Jack Kavanaugh, chairman and CEO of Nanotech Energy Inc. We are confident that we have a one-of-a-kind, industry-changing product that will impact the technologies and bottom lines of multiple end-user markets. This round of funding allows us to dramatically expand our production of graphene batteries, as well as our production of conductive epoxies, conductive inks and electromagnetic interference shielding spray paints and films. This will also facilitate our efforts to further increase our large-scale manufacturing of high-quality graphene that we provide for use in downstream applications.
The funding news follow the Company’s statement regarding the creation and production of non-flammable lithium batteries with the highest performance levels of other batteries. The Nanotech Energy Graphene Super Battery is claimed to safely deliver efficient, fast charging and long-lasting battery power.
Graphene is one of the strongest known materials, is completely flexible, and an excellent conductor of electricity - thus preventing the battery from overheating, stated Dr. Richard Kaner, UCLA Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and of Materials Science and Engineering. More importantly, graphene can withstand the volume changes of the battery electrodes during charge and discharge, reducing the chances of an internal short circuit; leading to a safer and more powerful battery.
Most industries and end users are confined to the technology of lithium-ion batteries, from smartphone and laptop manufacturers to automotive manufacturers to the consumer at large. They are limited to a battery technology that is well-known and documented to be dangerous highly combustible and flammable, continued Kavanaugh. You have advanced and successful industries relying on a dangerous yet vital technology for decades. Nanotech Energy now offers all of these industries a path toward a safe and more powerful battery technology a game changer for them.
In preparation for its graphene battery launch, Nanotech Energy has said that it has been working on the development of a high-performance, non-flammable battery for Daimler Mercedes hybrid and electric automobiles.
Three years ago, we challenged Nanotech Energy to provide us with the safest non-flammable battery chemistry, stated Andreas Hintennach, Ph.D., global head of battery research for Daimler AG. Nanotech Energy exceeded our challenge. Usually you sacrifice performance once you develop extremely safe chemistry. Now, for the first time, we have access to extremely safe chemistry that provides high performance and we are very pleased.
Currently, most batteries that industries commonly use are produced with lithium-ion, which is universally recognized as quite a dangerous material. In devices and products with built-in lithium batteries, such as cellular phones, laptops and electric automobiles, pressure from parts surrounding the lithium batteries can cause damage to the wires around the batteries and lead to short circuiting. When lithium-ion batteries get shorted, the energy from the battery gets released suddenly, causing the temperature to rise hundreds of degrees within milliseconds resulting in the battery catching fire.
The concern regarding the dangers of lithium batteries is considerable and other technologies are being explored, such as zinc batteries and others.
The Nanotech Energy Graphene Super Battery is manufactured in the United States with a shelf cost roughly the same as the leading lithium-ion versions; yet Nanotech batteries are ultimately less expensive, as they last much longer. Within the next year, the Company is planning to release an environmentally friendly battery that can charge 18 times faster than anything that is currently available on the market.