GM invests in AI-enabled battery material innovator Mitra Chem

AI-enabled battery materials innovator, Mitra Future Technologies (Mitra Chem) has completed a $40 million first close of $60 million Series B funding round led by General Motors (GM).

The Silicon Valley-based lithium-ion battery materials innovator will utilize the latest funds to develop, deploy and commercialize its US-made iron-based cathode materials to enable mass-market electrification for EVs, energy storage solutions, and beyond.

"This is a strategic investment that will further help reinforce GM's efforts in EV batteries, accelerate our work on affordable battery chemistries like LMFP and support our efforts to build a US-focused battery supply chain," said Gil Golan, GM Vice president for Technology Acceleration and Commercialization.

"GM is accelerating larger investments in critical subdomains of battery technology, like cell chemistry, components, and advanced cell production processes. Mitra Chem's labs, methods and talent will fit well with our own R&D team's work."

The investment by GM is expected to enable Mitra Chem to scale its current R&D and pilot operations to expedite bringing their battery materials to market.

As per Mitra Chem, its battery R&D facility can simulate, synthesize and test thousands of cathode designs monthly, ranging in size from grams to kilograms. These processes drive significantly shortened learning cycles, enabling shorter time to market for new battery cell formulas.

"GM's investment in Mitra Chem will not only help us develop affordable battery chemistries for use in GM vehicles, but also will fuel our mission to develop, deploy and commercialize U.S. made, iron-based cathode materials that can power EVs, grid-scale electrified energy storage and beyond," said Mitra Chem CEO and Co-Founder Vivas Kumar.

In addition to GM, other investors that participated in the Series B funding round included incumbents such as Social Capital, Fontinalis Partners, Earthshot Ventures, The Keffi Group, Boutique Venture Partners, and new investors such as GS Futures, Bricks Capital Management, Zeon Ventures, Scribble VC, WovenEarth Ventures, Bonds Investment Group, among others.