The Swiss startup is a spin-off from ETH Zurich and has developed a patented battery production platform for lithium-ion batteries. The platform technology is based on a new standard of electrode coating. It wants to enable mass production of NextGen designs and materials and produce batteries for a variety of applications. These include: vehicles, aircraft, drones, consumer electronics, stationary storage and many more. 8inks has now been guaranteed three million euros in pre-seed financing.
Mass production of batteries is becoming essential
The solution is important because, for example, the automotive industry will need more batteries in the future – this is the only way to reduce CO₂ emissions. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), total energy storage capacity worldwide must increase sixfold by 2030 and batteries should cover 90 percent of this, Trending Topics reported – it’s not just about electric batteries for cars. According to a current study by Porsche Consulting, the battery market as a whole is expected to grow between 30 and 40 percent annually from now until 2030 and is estimated to be worth over half a trillion euros by 2030. Therefore, there seems to be a need for startups like 8inks that use new technologies to produce batteries up to ten times faster. Lithium-ion batteries are particularly suitable for this because they are light, small, quick to charge and are considered safer than liquid electrolyte batteries.
NextGen designs enable faster production
8inks’ “next generation” design will consist of three main components: chemistry, cell design and manufacturing. According to the startup, current manufacturing processes do not pay enough attention to an optimal combination of these three areas. 8inks wants to change that and is therefore working with layered battery architectures in a single coating system – a new solution for electrode coating. As businessinsider writes, 8inks is talking about a “multi-layer coating process” that is reminiscent of the production techniques in the paper and photo industries. The process improves the energy density of the batteries, which increases their performance. Compatibility with the existing infrastructure is also available, i.e. the batteries should be able to be installed in any application. According to the company, manufacturing costs can be reduced by up to 30 percent. “Thanks to new and greater degrees of freedom in production, we can respond particularly well to the respective needs of the application,” reveals co-founder Leon Baade.
Investors convinced: pre-financing of 3 million was bagged
There are already test facilities that produce batteries using the process described. The startup has now secured three million euros in investment in a preeseed financing round led by private equity client “Founderful”. Other investors in this round include “Übermorgen Ventures”, “Angel Invest”, “another.vc”, “Venture Kick” and the “ETH Foundation”. The plan is to use the money to build the first pilot plants, which will then also be able to produce outside of the laboratory. Behind 8inks there is a four-person management team, consisting of: Founder and CEO Paul Baade with a doctorate in battery research – he has dealt with the field at ETH Zurich for years, co-founder Leon Baade is an ex-Google manager and brings automobiles -Industry knowledge with, Christina Sauter (CTO) and Karl-Philipp Schlichting (COO), whose areas of expertise are battery technology and nanoscience for energy technology.
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