Bristol-based battery innovation company Anaphite has raised £1.4 million in fresh funding to accelerate its mission to decarbonise electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturing. The funding combines £700,000 in Innovate UK grant support with a matching £700,000 from climate-focused venture capital investors Elbow Beach and World Fund.
The announcement follows Anaphite’s £10.4 million Series A round closed in September and reflects rising demand for more energy-efficient electrode production methods in the global EV supply chain.
A New Step Toward Lower-Carbon Battery Manufacturing
Anaphite focuses on improving electrode coating processes, a critical stage in lithium-ion cell production where a substantial share of energy and cost is concentrated. Dry coating technology is seen as a transformative alternative to traditional wet-coating techniques, which require energy-intensive solvents, large manufacturing facilities, and costly downstream drying.
One sentence: Dry processes avoid many of those burdens entirely.
The company’s Dry Coating Precursor (DCP) platform produces engineered homogenous dry powders that can be used to manufacture dry-coated NMC cathodes, LFP cathodes, and graphite anodes. The approach enables high-throughput mixing while maintaining strong material uniformity and adhesion.
Manufacturing LFP cathodes, however, remains difficult. The process is more than twice as energy intensive per kWh of battery cells than NMC cathodes with medium-to-high nickel content. That challenge is exactly where Anaphite sees opportunity.
-
Improving dry coating success for LFP could deliver large efficiency gains for global OEMs.
The bullet point shows what’s at stake for suppliers.
A short one-sentence paragraph: The aim is commercial-grade scalability, not lab demonstrations.
Why Dry Coating Matters for EV Batteries
In lithium-ion cell manufacturing, material mixing and electrode coating often account for between 30 and 40 percent of total energy consumption and cost. Much of that comes from drying stages, solvent handling, air management, and industrial waste mitigation.
One sentence: Cutting those burdens changes the economics of battery cells.
Dry coating eliminates solvent dependency and removes the need for large drying ovens and recovery systems. If production reaches scale, facilities could be smaller, simpler, and cheaper to operate.
Here is a small reference table summarizing how dry coating compares with wet coating:
| Manufacturing Element | Wet Coating | Dry Coating |
|---|---|---|
| Use of solvents | Yes | No |
| Drying energy | High | Very low |
| Manufacturing footprint | Large | Smaller |
| Material uniformity | Good, but complex | Requires advanced powder engineering |
| Scalability | Proven at volume | Emerging, but promising |
This table highlights why industrial players are closely watching breakthroughs in dry-coating performance.
Another one-sentence paragraph: The carbon impact could be meaningful across millions of EVs.
Funding Designed to Solve One of the Hardest Problems
CEO Joe Stevenson said the new financing allows Anaphite to take on one of the toughest engineering challenges in modern dry-coating research — manufacturing LFP electrodes at scale without sacrificing quality or throughput.
One sentence: LFP is a core chemistry for mass-market EVs.
LFP cathodes are durable, safe, and affordable, making them increasingly important for entry-level EV segments and grid-scale energy storage. Yet, their manufacturing remains energy-intensive per cell unit.
If dry coating overcomes that obstacle, OEMs could lower cost per kWh, reduce operational emissions, and streamline factory footprints without changing cell chemistry. That is attractive for automakers seeking to localize battery plants in regions with tight energy constraints.
Short sentence: Everyone wants simpler gigafactories.
Market Context and Strategic Importance
Anaphite’s technology fits into national industrial priorities. Batteries and automotive electrification are key pillars in the UK government’s Advanced Manufacturing Plan, with the country aiming to strengthen domestic cell engineering, materials capability, and EV supply chains.
One sentence alone: Dry coating is a strategically attractive technology.
UK policymakers see a competitive advantage in manufacturing intellectual property rather than only final assembly. Technologies that cut energy, space, and complexity could position British factories more competitively against dominant battery producers in Asia.
Climate-focused investors have taken note. Craig Douglas, a partner at World Fund, said the platform can support both next-generation battery materials and existing lithium-ion technologies. The firm believes commercial expansion is now achievable, especially as OEMs explore dry-coating pilots for future plant designs.
Small paragraph: Scaling is now the central challenge.
Why OEMs Are Paying Attention
Automotive manufacturers want to reduce supply-chain friction, improve ESG criteria, and control cost exposure. Battery manufacturing is capital-intensive and sensitive to factory-level energy pricing. Reducing drying stages can change the financial structure of entire gigafactories.
One sentence: Even single-digit energy savings can move billions of dollars across decades.
Dry coating could simplify regulatory compliance by eliminating solvent use and the need for specialized ventilation and waste-handling systems. That also means faster permitting timelines for new plants, easier facility layout, and potentially faster rollout cycles for new models.
Some global players are already testing variations of dry coating, especially for NMC. LFP remains more elusive, which explains why Anaphite’s ambitions are drawing attention.
A short one-sentence paragraph: Whoever solves it at volume has a major commercial edge.
