UK Nexeon attracts Korean investors to scale up battery materials ops

British start-up Nexeon Ltd has received USD 80 million (EUR 70.9m) to ramp up the production of materials for lithium-ion batteries from a consortium including South Korean chemicals company SKC Co Ltd (KRX:011790), with which it has also formed a strategic manufacturing partnership.

The investor group also includes three South Korean privater equity firms, namely SJL Partners LLC, BNW Investment Co Ltd and Kiwoom Private Equity Inc Ltd, a statement showed on Wednesday.

Abingdon, Oxfordshire-based Nexeon spun out of Imperial College, London and completed a seed funding round in 2006. The company, which also has engineering laboratories in Japan, produces silicon-based materials, which are used in electric vehicle (EV) battery cells.

The transaction will enable Nexeon to boost its supply of silicon anodes to reach the volume required to meet increasing demands from blue-chip customers in the automotive and consumer electronics sectors in Europe, North America and Asia, the company said.

Nexeon raised GBP 10 million (USD 13.5m/EUR 12m) in a Series B funding round in 2009, followed by a GBP-30-million fund-raiser in 2016. In 2019, the British start-up sold a 25% stake to German chemicals giant Wacker Chemie.

(USD 1 = EUR 0.887)

(GBP 1 = USD 1.351/EUR 1.198)

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