Solid-state sodium battery company LiNa Energy (earlier post) has closed out a £3.5-million (US$4.8-million) late seed funding round, attracting a combination of existing and new investors. This funding will enable the company to advance their technology through expanding their laboratory facilities, stepping-up recruitment and buying new equipment which will accelerate their commercialization plan and ultimately when they are market-ready.

LiNa Energy, a spin-out from Lancaster University, established in 2017, is commercializing a safe, cobalt- and lithium-free solid-state sodium battery. The company says that its design has the potential to exceed both lithium-ion and rest-of-market sodium-ion technologies on all performance measures, and at a cost of less than $50/kWh.

The funding, alongside recent grant success, gives LiNa Energy a firm foundation upon which to focus on two core activities:

• Accelerating the technology development by tripling the Lancaster-based laboratory, raising the headcount from 20 to 30 by the end of 2022 and buying additional equipment to improve speed and quality of cell manufacturing processes; and

• Progressing commercialization activities by securing customer trial partners in primary target markets of stationary energy storage and transport.

This investment is a significant step towards achieving our goal to deliver a safe, affordable, mass-production solution to accelerate the two global mega-trends: electrification of transport and decarbonization of energy.

For a small yet disruptive technology company like LiNa Energy, this funding is critical. It provides us with a 24-month runway and enables us to push forward our commercialization plans prior to building a pre-commercial production line in 2023.

—Dr Gene Lewis, CEO of LiNa Energy

The company expects to be fundraising in late 2022 to fund the construction of a pre-commercial production line in 2023. The pre-commercial production line will demonstrate the ability to manufacture batteries at consistent quality and provide the capacity to meet the demands of customer trial programs.

is a spin-out of Lancaster University, applying modern materials engineering to the sodium-nickel-chloride battery to create a game-changing storage technology. Now with over 20 staff, LiNa Energy works at the cutting-edge of battery technology.

To date LiNa Energy has secured more than £7 million (US$9.5 million) in equity seed funding and been awarded several prestigious grants; working with key partners including the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK, Faraday Battery Challenge, Innovate UK and the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy.