February 13, 2024
Borski Fund, part of StartGreen Capital, co-led a ten million euro investment round in the Delft-based company CarbonX, alongside Innovation Industries and InnovationQuarter. The deep tech start-up will use the funds for the further development of its alternative to graphite, a key raw material for batteries.
Imminent shortage
Batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) consist of approximately fifty percent graphite. As the demand for EVs is expected to continue growing significantly, raw material supply chains are unable to keep pace. By 2030, the global shortage is expected to reach 1 million tons of anode material, representing a market opportunity of 8 billion dollars. Furthermore, China announced export restrictions on graphite earlier last month, limiting supply to the US and the EU.
Local and independent
CarbonX, founded in 2014 by Rutger Van Raalten and Daniela Sordi, aims to establish local supply chains and thereby become independent of the natural graphite supply chain dominated by China. To achieve this, CarbonX utilizes a unique emulsion technology to produce a new carbon anode material in high volumes at regional production facilities.
CEO of CarbonX Rutger van Raalten:
‘With this investment, we aim to further test the application of the alternative graphite in collaboration with battery and car manufacturers. I expect the first production in Europe in 2025.’
Circular and sustainable alternative
Other substitutes for graphite in batteries include synthetic graphite and silicon. ‘However, the production of synthetic graphite requires much more energy than our application, and silicon faces stability challenges,’ states Van Raalten. CarbonX’s unique raw material technology consumes little energy compared to synthetic or natural graphite, resulting in lower costs and a smaller carbon footprint. With its method, CarbonX can also produce graphite from biomass and end-of-life car tires, making the production circular.
Also read the article in the Financieel Dagblad about this groundbreaking innovation.
