Bristol-based Anaphite raises €1.6 million to develop dry coating technology for LFP batteries

Anaphite, a Bristol-based battery technology company, has secured €1.6 million (£1.4 million) in a Series A follow-on round through the Innovate UK Investor Partnership Programme.

Half of the funding comes from Innovate UK’s Clean Energy and Climate Technologies competition, with the other half provided by aligned investment from climate-focused venture capital funds Elbow Beach and World Fund. The capital will support the expansion of Anaphite’s Dry Coating Precursor (DCP®) technology platform beyond NMC cathodes to enable high-throughput dry coating of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathodes and graphite anodes.

LFP cathodes have become increasingly competitive in mainstream electric vehicles in recent years, despite having lower energy density than NMC materials. However, manufacturing LFP cathodes remains significantly more energy-intensive, requiring more than twice the energy per kWh of battery cells produced compared with NMC cathodes using medium-to-high nickel content. Material mixing and electrode coating account for 30–40% of total cell manufacturing energy and cost, making process optimisation a key lever for reducing both cost and carbon intensity.

With LFP forecast to account for more than 55% of global cathode demand by 2030, demand for technologies that enable reliable, high-yield dry coating is rising. Yet dry coating LFP cathodes is more challenging than NMC, with no commercial-scale solution proven to date. To meet growing EV demand, as well as regulatory milestones including the 2030 and 2035 bans on new combustion engine vehicles in the UK and EU, scalable manufacturing processes are urgently needed.

Anaphite aims to address these challenges by applying its dry coating expertise and nanomaterials capability to LFP electrode formulations. The company has already demonstrated the performance of its dry coating technology on NMC cathodes. Its DCP® platform uses proprietary chemical compositing techniques to disperse difficult-to-mix materials such as binders and conductive carbons, attaching them to active material particles to create homogenous dry composite powders. This approach is intended to overcome the limitations of existing mixing methods, which have proven inadequate for LFP dry coating.

Anaphite’s CEO Joe Stevenson says: “We’re thrilled to have secured this grant support from Innovate UK and the matching investment from Elbow Beach, World Fund and other Anaphite investors. This enables us to attack one of the toughest technical challenges in dry coating – successfully manufacturing LFP electrodes. Once achieved at scale, it will be enormously valuable to the industry. Anaphite’s DCP® technology has been successful with NMC dry coating formulations, and we’re confident it can be applied to LFP, to further boost the cost and carbon emission savings for OEMs.”

One of the major hurdles with LFP formulations is particle size. The latest generation of LFP (Gen IV) has particles ranging between 0.7 and 3 microns, compared with 3 to 20 microns for NMC. The significantly higher surface area of LFP particles introduces challenges in achieving uniform mixing and consistent dry film formation.

Craig Douglas, Partner, World Fund, comments: “Anaphite’s technology is broadly applicable across next-generation and established battery technologies alike. This investment will enable the company to significantly expand its commercial capabilities, accelerating the scale-up of its manufacturing processes and driving down manufacturing costs for the global battery industry.”

Key outcomes expected from the project include successful roll-to-roll production of dry-coated LFP cathodes and graphite anodes, followed by full cell builds for testing. Demonstrating high first-cycle efficiency and strong cycle life will validate the applicability of Anaphite’s technology to LFP and graphite formulations. This would open the door to dry coating across a wider range of mass-market electrode materials and strengthen ongoing collaborations with global OEMs seeking to reduce both cost and environmental impact in battery cell manufacturing.

The project aligns with the UK Government’s Advanced Manufacturing Plan, which identifies batteries and automotive as priority sectors for industrial growth. It is also expected to support further expansion of the BESS sector, which is forecast to account for most new energy storage capacity added in the UK by 2030, with LFP anticipated to become the dominant chemistry.

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