OXIS Energy, a leader in lithium-sulfur cell technology for high energy density battery systems, has already been granted 173 patents with 96 pending. Benefiting from more than 15 years of R&D in the field of lithium-sulfur chemistry, interest in its work from different industry sectors is growing significantly.
Safran Corporate Ventures is participating in a £7 million round of fresh funding alongside Aerotec and new investors, including Arkema. The investments made by these companies take the total capital raised to just under £24m and include Samsung Ventures which contributed to the fund in December 2016. The capital raised will be used to commercialize and automate the process of mass production of rechargeable Lithium Sulfur cells/modules, using state of the art digital manufacturing machinery for worldwide distribution to manufacturers of vehicles. OXIS intends to focus on the aviation, defense and the heavy electric vehicles markets, such as buses and trucks.
Simultaneously, OXIS announces the signature of two Joint Development Agreements with its partners. Firstly, Safran and OXIS will cooperate on high energy density battery cells for the aviation industry. Secondly, Arkema and OXIS have defined a common roadmap to further improve battery lifetime and energy density.