German battery startup Theion has raised €15 million ($16.4 million) in a Series A funding round led by technology holding firm Team Global, investment group Geschwister Oetker Beteiligungen, and German renewables company Enpal. The funding will be used to scale up its sulfur-based battery technology, which the company claims offers significant advantages over conventional lithium-ion batteries.
Theion says its sulfur-based cells provide three times the energy density of traditional lithium-ion batteries while costing only a third as much and generating a third of the carbon emissions. CEO Ulrich Ehmes stated that the company has successfully developed small coin cell prototypes and is now focused on producing larger pouch cells suitable for electric vehicles, flying taxis, and energy storage applications.
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“We are under observation of car companies, stationary storage companies, and companies in the electric aerospace sector,” Ehmes told Reuters. “Everyone is now waiting for our first pouch cells because with the coin cell you cannot fly an aircraft.”
Sulfur battery technology has long been explored as an alternative to lithium-ion cells, but challenges such as rapid degradation and expansion-related damage have hindered commercial viability. Ehmes said Theion has addressed these issues by utilizing crystalline sulfur to prevent corrosion and pre-expanding the battery cathode to mitigate structural damage.
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The company aims to introduce its first large-format cells within the next few years, with the potential for electric vehicles powered by its batteries to hit the road before the end of the decade.