Anthro Energy: Unlocking Better Batteries
The hope for a greener and more mobile future has long hinged on electrification. As such, batteries are the linchpin for everything from smartwatches and grid-scale energy storage to space satellites and Teslas.
But there’s a persistent problem with batteries preventing them from reaching their full potential: safety.
If the TSA has recently asked you to remove spare lithium ion batteries from your bag when boarding a flight, you probably have some sense of this intrinsic safety risk.
One out of every 10 million lithium-ion batteries fails, which nearly always leads to a devastating fire. While that rate may seem low, it translates to thousands of fires per year. These fires lead to fatalities, create public health hazards, strain municipal resources, and cost manufacturers billions of dollars each year.
Global demand for lithium-ion batteries is projected to skyrocket, growing sevenfold in the coming years.
And while battery safety is already an issue, two megatrends will cause battery fires to become catastrophic problems if left unchecked.
First, global demand for lithium-ion batteries is projected to skyrocket, growing sevenfold in the coming years. More batteries means more failures, and more failures means more fires. Improvements in battery safety and stability will help ensure that the projected 4.7 TWh of global battery production in 2030 can be adopted by society risk-free.
Second, the desire for increasingly power-hungry devices is driving a push towards the development of novel, ultra-high energy battery chemistries and form factors. Whether it’s longer range EVs, or the continued emergence of connected electronics such as the Oura Ring and Dyson Zone, everyone wants more out of their batteries. However, these high energy density batteries exacerbate the already present safety risks such as overheating, short circuit, and explosion. To unlock a fully electrified society, the tradeoffs between battery performance and safety must be overcome.
Enter Anthro Energy, a pioneering advanced battery company that’s set to reshape the future of energy storage. While traditional lithium-ion batteries are bulky, rigid, and potentially hazardous, Anthro Energy has developed a cutting-edge polymer engineering platform that fundamentally changes how we think about batteries and how they can be incorporated into various devices.
Anthro’s platform enables the world’s first ‘structural’ batteries. They’re not only safe, but also flexible and resilient to mechanical stress—a game-changer that expands the realm of what’s possible for all battery applications. Beyond safer and more efficient electric vehicles, structural batteries will pave the way for advancements across a broad spectrum of applications. Better wearables, military equipment, and medical devices are all on the horizon. Anthro’s team has worked with partners to demonstrate many sci-fi applications that their batteries unlock, ranging from wing-shaped batteries for drones to batteries embedded seamlessly into the collar of a performance-monitoring shirt. The range of applications for Anthro’s technology is limitless.
What sets Anthro apart (beyond their cutting-edge tech), is their commitment to affordability and scalability. Their materials are cost-competitive with traditional Li-ion batteries, and their technology integrates seamlessly with existing manufacturing systems—a crucial factor in driving adoption and scaling production.
Their novel polymer electrolyte is also designed to be chemistry-agnostic, meaning it can be applied not only to the lithium-ion batteries that have proliferated to-date, but also to novel chemistries like lithium metal, sodium-ion, and other innovations yet to be discovered.
In addition to a number of exciting commercial partnerships (more soon!), Anthro recently achieved UN 38.3 certification, demonstrating that their batteries meet the strictest standards set by the United Nations.
Collaborative Fund recently led Anthro’s $20M Series A to support the company’s plans to build a production facility in the Bay Area and deliver their first commercial product to a growing list of eager customers.
They’re also using some of that capital to expand the team, so if you’re looking to work with some of the smartest battery experts in the world, who are already transitioning out of the lab and into the mainstream, we strongly recommend applying here.
Many thanks to co-founders David and Joe, the entire Anthro team, and our friends at Union Square Ventures, Voyager VC, and Emerson Collective for partnering with us to reimagine the future of energy storage and electronic design.