The Engineer

GM and Itochu fund lithium-ion battery development

News

An Ann Arbor, Michigan-based developer of lithium-ion batteries has received $4.2m (£2.7m) in investment from General Motors Ventures and Itochu Technology Ventures.

A spin-out of the University of Michigan, Sakti3 is commercialising solid-state batteries that are produced using a novel manufacturing process developed by the company.

Sakti3 was founded in 2007 and has been supported to date by Khosla Ventures, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and Michigan venture capital firm Beringea. The company now plans to work closely with General Motors to speed the commercialisation of its battery cells.

’Our investment in Sakti3 gives us access to an innovative battery technology that has the potential to be a mainstream solution for electrically driven cars and trucks of the future,’ said Jon Lauckner, president of GM Ventures.

Sakti3 was awarded a $3m grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) in 2009 and has been designated as a State of Michigan Center of Energy Excellence (CoEE) in partnership with the University of Michigan.

Register now to continue reading

Thanks for visiting The Engineer. You’ve now reached your monthly limit of news stories. Register for free to unlock unlimited access to all of our news coverage, as well as premium content including opinion, in-depth features and special reports.  

Benefits of registering

  • In-depth insights and coverage of key emerging trends

  • Unrestricted access to special reports throughout the year

  • Daily technology news delivered straight to your inbox

Register
Or continue by

Signing in with your registered email address