General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) (GM) is leading a $60 million financing round in AI-powered battery materials developer Mitra Chem.
The California-based startup is developing new lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries for EVs, which are cheaper than other types of EV batteries that require more expensive materials such as cobalt and nickel but are less dense, meaning more cells are required.
Several EV makers, such as Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) and Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F), already use LFP batteries.
Mitra Chem said that GM’s funding will allow it to scale its research and development and pilot operations, allowing it to bring its battery materials to market faster.
The company uses AI to test thousands of new cathode designs each month, which the company said enables it to bring new battery formulas from the lab to market 90% faster than its competitors.
As part of its partnership with GM, Mitra Chem will develop iron-based cathode active materials like lithium manganese iron phosphate (LMFP) to power EV batteries that are compatible with GM’s EV propulsion architecture, the Ultium Platform.
"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 North America-focused battery supply chain," GM vice president of technology acceleration commercialization Gil Golan said.
Mitra Chem CEO Vivas Kumar added: "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."
In addition to GM, other investors participating in Mitra Chem’s financing round include Social Capital, Fontinalis Partners, Earthshot Ventures, The Keffi Group, Boutique Venture Partners, GS Futures, Bricks Capital Management, Zeon Ventures, Scribble VC, WovenEarth Ventures, and Bonds Investment Group.
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