We are replacing lead-acid and LFP (lithium) batteries with safer, lower-cost, earth-abundant patented zinc-ion batteries for e-mobility and energy storage markets.
We have developed novel, game-changing, battery cells for the energy storage, backup power, and e-mobility markets. Current customers have problems with high cost and safety as well as the use of earth-scare materials for their batteries. Most raw materials for commercial lithium-ion cells come from China and now there are large tariffs placed on this material. In addition, all lithium and sodium batteries must be manufactured in a very expensive dry-room. Our batteries can be made in ambient conditions. Also, electricity demand is expected to double by 2050 and according to Imre Guyk from the DOE, we will run out of lithium by 2030 to support the demand and we need another battery chemistry. Our chemistry solves these problems. Our batteries are patent-pending, based on zinc, manganese dioxide, and water, and are safer, faster charging, and half the cost of the incumbent LFP (lithium) batteries. We use much of the same abundant material that is in most primary alkaline cells that people buy for portable electronics, and which can be sourced in the USA. We have also been awarded the DOE 40209 TA program to help us win a very large grant to build a factory in a disadvantaged, former coal community. Others have tried making these but have short life due to dendrites (zinc growth) and have low energy density and high cost. We have solved these issues with a patented 3D anode, our unique acidic pH, our special additives, and thick cathodes.
- Tim Vosburgh - Founder / CEO - 30 years of experience in high volume manufacturing and thin-film machinery.
- Suba Thra - CTO - 20+years of Experience in Energy Projects and 4 year of battery research.
- Nathan Neisius, PhD - Sr Chemist - 4 years of battery development and characterization experience.
- Xiaoran Yang, PhD - Sr Chemist - 5 years of battery development experience. Studied at Stevens Institute.
- Thanh Le, PhD - Sr Chemist - 4 years of battery DFT modeling experience. Studied zinc-MnO2 at Stonybrook University Connor Kniaz - Bachelors of Chemistry. 3 years of battery development experience at Natrion.
- Trenton Gallagher, PhD - Advisor - 5 years of battery development, studied zinc batteries at OSU.
- Ilias Balharouak, PhD - Head of Electrification Section Distinguished scientists at ORNL. 24 years science research
- Parans Paranthaman, PhD - Fellow National Academy of Inventors & Materials Research Society. 39 years science research
- Kevin Huang - Professor at South Carolina University - 19 years science research, Acidic zinc-MnO2 development
We have a B2B model and have already reached out and met with many customers. We meet them on LinkedIn, at Tradeshows, and via referrals. We are targeting the CEO's and CTO's of these companies. We have an LOI signed with Inergy and Enphase Energy and we have applied to a grant with both of them as well. We also have an asset-lite business model where we have partnered with contract manufacturers such as East Penn, Re-Build manufacturing and High Energy Ltd. East Penn is also interested in licensing our technology. We have also partnered with systems development and manufacturing companies such as Alchemy. We are in talks with many customers, all of whom are waiting to test our 5Ah pouch cells when they are ready. These customers include energy storage and back-up power customers such as Flex, Powin, and Lion as well as e-mobility customers such as Yamaha (for golf carts), GM (to replace lead acid batteries in starter motors), and East Penn (to replace lead-acid batteries as well). We also have LOI's signed by Inergy (for portable storage) and by enphase energy (for residential storage) as well. We are planning to reach out to these other customers in these markets soon; Golf carts (Club car, EZGo, etc.); Bass Boats (Skeeter, Triton, Bass Pro Shop, & Cabellas); Vehicle manufacturers (Ford, Stellantis, etc.); Wheel Chairs and 3-wheel mobility (Invacare, Pride Mobility, Permobile, Sunrise Medical, etc.); Scooter Companies (Segwey-Ninebot, Xiaomi, Razor, Gogoro, Niu, Bird, etc.), and e-bike companies (Specialized, Trek, Giant, etc.).
Our primary revenue driver will be to make and sell batteries with our contract manufacturing partners. We also plan to license our technology to other battery companies so they can also make and sell batteries. Our target beachhead is to replace lead-acid batteries in golf carts, fishing boats, airport tugs, wheel chairs, and automobiles. This is about a $45B market (source Straits Research).
Our next market target is to replace LFP (lithium) in e-bikes, scooters, and power sport applications. This is about a $12B market (source Mordor Intelligence).
Our third market is residential, industrial, and grid storage which is about a $43B market (source insight Ace Analytic). Combined this is a $100B market world-wide. We are defining our SAM as customers that have a strong drive to have safer and lower cost products, which we estimate as 20% of this market. And we consider a realistic goal for our SOM to be 5% of the SAM. So, Our TAM is $100B, our SAM is $20B, and our SOM is $1B.
We are looking to raise $2.5M to get us through Q1 of 2026 where will will complete our MVP of our 20Ah prismatic cells on our pilot line and start to qualify them with early customers. We will also finish our R&D of our 5Ah pouch cells, qualify our supply chain, and apply to a few more patents. We are looking for a lead investor for this round.
We are at TRL4 and are making and testing ~ 10ea 0.6Ah pouch cells every week. We achieve 150mAh/g now and our goal is to be at 340mAh/g before we start to make larger 5Ah cells. We get max 150 cycles at 1/10C before degradation occurs and need to be 200 cycles with less than 5% degradation before we scale-up as well. 340mAh/g is about 140Wh/kg. We believe we will achieve this goal in mid 2025. This data comes off our cycle tester and we can share this data as needed. We expect to finish our 5Ah development at the end of 2025. We also plan to start our MVP development which is our 20Ah prismatic cell as well as our pilot line development in mid 2025 as well. We we expect to achieve UL certs with our MVP by early 2026 and then start ramping up production volume to achieve revenue shortly after that.
We have $920k of funding that came from the founder Tim. Of which $730k has been spent since Dec 2022, when we started. Tim is committed and fully believes in this project and sold his house to provide this funding. We have also received $950k of grant funding from several agencies which is paid over 2 years through July 2026. This includes $450k from the Innovation Crossroads program (DOE AMMTO, VTA, & ORNL), $50k from the Cradle to Commerce program (DOE AMMTO & ANL), $250k from the NJ CSIT Pilot demo grant, $200k from the Calseed Concept grant, a collaboration with the DOE's Long Duration Energy Storage Earthshot (with Sandia & Newlab), and a $100k energywerx voucher.
