Battery Tech Startup Volt14 Raises $1.87 Mn Led by Blume Ventures

Battery tech startup Volt14 has raised USD 1.87 million in a Pre-Series A round of funding led by Blume Ventures with participation from Beyond Next Ventures, Spectrum Impact, Supermorpheus and previous investor Cocoon Capital. This brings the total funding raised by the company so far to US $4.02M, inclusive of this investment. Since its last fundraise, Volt14 has made substantial progress from the development of its core material technology to now offering its anode products, ready for adoption and manufacturing, to cell producers.

Volt14 will utilise the funds raised for scaling up manufacturing of its anodes and to strengthen the team.

Silicon is a next generation anode material being adopted by the lithium ion battery industry to improve battery energy density which results in longer battery life of consumer electronics and a range of electric vehicles. Volt14 leverages its proprietary technology that allows it to boost silicon content in anodes while maintaining performance stability.The company has been engaging with multiple battery cell companies for the adoption of its silicon rich anode products for their next generation battery cell products. Volt14 has developed an in-house cylindrical EV-format battery cell that demonstrates state-of-the-art energy density using its silicon anode product.

Volt14 was founded in 2019 by Animesh Kumar Jha who has a materials science background and is a Forbes 30 Under 30 alumni. Last year, Dr Puneet Gupta, a veteran from the silicon industry with over two decades of management experience joined the company’s Board of Directors. Ex Tesla, Lucid and CTO of SERES and EV and battery industry veteran Yifan Tang has also joined Volt14 as an advisor.

Animesh Jha, Founder, Volt14, said, “We are delighted to have the backing and vote of confidence from such high-quality investors — Blume Ventures, Beyond Next Ventures, and Spectrum Impact. Over the past five years, our focused and resilient team has made outstanding progress in commercializing our high-performance silicon anode platform. Electrification is an irreversible trend, and in this paradigm we are excited to help our partners unlock tangible product advantages through superior battery performance. Volt14’s technology delivers a substantial boost to energy density, can leverage installed cell production capacity, and scales efficiently — positioning us strongly for the future.”

Arpit Agarwal, Partner, Blume Ventures, added, “We are excited to lead this investment round in Volt14, a company that is fundamentally reimagining the future of battery technology. Their breakthrough silicon anode innovation represents a step-change in energy storage capabilities that could push the boundaries of what's possible with Lithium-ion batteries. Under the very capable leadership of Animesh and Puneet, whose technical expertise and vision are world-class, we have full confidence in Volt14's ability to scale this company globally. We look forward to supporting their journey as they revolutionize energy storage solutions for a more sustainable future.”

“As Japan’s top deep tech fund, we invest early in startups that align with our fund thesis of Healthy Planet, Happy People. Our investment in Volt14 is a step in that direction. Volt14 and the founders’ disruptive vision for a sustainable world by innovating in the battery chemistry space perfectly resonates with our mission to back the pioneers building a happy planet, mentioned Jay Krishnan, Partner, Beyond Next Ventures.

The global lithium-ion battery market is experiencing rapid growth, driven by the accelerating adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) and expansion of renewable energy storage solutions. and is expected to surpass US$300 billion by 2034 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 15% (source). According to the International Energy Agency (source), nearly one out of every five cars sold in 2023 was electric with the global electric vehicle fleet expected to grow twelve fold by 2035. Lithium ion battery cell manufacturing is today a strategic national priority in key economies, including India and the United States with multiple incentive schemes and subsidies to blister domestic production.