Tech investor Mercia powers up battery business with £1.9m injection

Specialist investor Mercia Technologies is injecting £1.9m in the growth of Sheffield battery materials business Faradion.

The company, established in 2010 and based at Portobello in the city, develops advanced battery materials.

The Mercia investment will allow it to further commercialise its products, starting with an initial tranche of £1.3m with the remaining sum delivered in the next 18 months.

Faradion will continue to develop its low-cost sodium-ion battery technology which Mercia believes will deliver “significant value” over time.

This investment gives Mercia a 13.6% equity holding in the business, and is part of a syndicated investment round of up to £3.2m. Existing shareholders include Finance Yorkshire’s Seedcorn Fund which invested in 2010 and 2014, and industry partner, the chemical catalyst producer Haldor Topsoe A/S.

Faradion was identified by Mercia as an ‘Emerging Star’ from Enterprise Ventures’ (“EV”) managed funds portfolio, which it acquired in March 2016, and is the third company from the portfolio to receive funding from Mercia.

Francis Massin, chief executive officer of Faradion, commented: “This new investment by Mercia comes at a particularly crucial stage for Faradion as we look to move from the laboratory to large scale prototype production.

“The benefits of sodium-ion battery technology have already been established in a laboratory setting; however this financial support will allow us to demonstrate that the technology can be manufactured at scale. We look forward to developing our new partnership with Mercia, which has shown great confidence in our technology.”

Mark Payton, chief executive officer of Mercia Technologies, said: “We are delighted to make our first direct investment into Faradion, adding another exciting technology company to Mercia’s portfolio of Emerging Stars.

“Faradion is the third company to have been sourced by the excellent team at Enterprise Ventures and added to the Group’s direct investment portfolio, once again demonstrating the potential of disruptive technology businesses, sourced from the UK regions.

“It is another example of Mercia supporting truly innovative UK businesses, from early development through our managed funds, followed by the deployment of direct capital to scale the commercial potential of the investee company.

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