Forge Nano Receives $10M investment from GM Ventures for future electric vehicles
THORNTON— Thornton-based Forge Nano, Inc., a materials science company that optimizes material performance to enable better products, has received a $10 million investment from GM Ventures for use in electric vehicles.
Forge Nano will use the investment to expand its battery material coating business, which includes in-house active material coating services, external equipment sales and production of Atomic Armor-powered battery cells, as well as expand its footprint in semiconductors, the release stated. According to a news release, the company has raised more than $100 million to date with additional investments from Volkswagen (OTC: VWAGY), Mitsui Kinzoku (OTC: MMSMY), LG Technology Ventures (KRX: 003550), Sumitomo Corporation of Americas (OTC: SSUMF), Air Liquide (OTC: AIQUY) and SBI Investment (OTC: SBHGF).
General Motors and Forge Nano have also partnered to potentially utilize the company’s Atomic Armor equipment to coat cathode active materials for GM’s EV battery cells to increase performance and lifetime, the release stated.
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Forge Nano intends to develop thin-film coatings to enhance GM’s cathode active materials and build prototype lithium-ion battery cells at its Colorado headquarters.
“Forge Nano’s mission is to make better materials for a better world. General Motors’ investment will allow us to further enhance battery material performance and durability, while allowing us to expand our footprint in other key areas – like semiconductors,” said Paul Lichty, CEO of Forge Nano in the news release. “We look forward to working closely with GM to enhance battery cell performance for future electric vehicles.”
Forge Nano’s battery material enhancement capabilities is also expected to be showcased through Forge Battery – the company’s battery manufacturing business – which was recently selected for a $100M award negotiation with the U.S. Department of Energy to expand its production capacity.
Forge Battery has begun producing and shipping 300 Wh/kg Atomic Armor-powered lithium-ion prototype cells using Forge Nano’s Atomic Armor surface engineering platform technology. The newly formed company intends to produce best-in-class high-energy and high-power lithium-ion battery cells for defense, aerospace and specialty electric vehicle markets at a newly constructed Gigafactory in Raleigh, North Carolina. Forge Battery plans to utilize a U.S-focused battery material supply chain to further bolster the domestic battery ecosystem and reduce reliance on foreign suppliers.