Coreshell, a venture from the spring 2018 CITRIS Foundry cohort, has raised $24 million in a series A2 funding round. The startup aims to develop a specially coated silicon anode that can replace graphite-based batteries, in turn supporting more profitable electric vehicles (EVs) for automakers and a viable transition route to more widespread EV usage.
Holding 10 times more electrons than graphite anodes, silicon has the potential to reduce the amount of material required to produce each cell, but is known to be prohibitively brittle in batteries. Coreshell will use its proprietary material to coat small beads on silicon, stabilizing the anode so that it doesn’t degrade over the EV battery’s thousands of cycles, and opening the door to a high-performing and low-cost alternative to graphite.