General Motors announced on Wednesday (October 16) that its venture capital arm, GM Ventures, has invested $10 million in materials technology company Forge Nano, Inc. This investment aims to help the company optimize battery material performance using its Atomic Armor™ Atomic Layer Deposition technology, thereby manufacturing better-performing battery products.
This investment supplements Forge Nano's previous $50 million Series C funding round, with financial institutions such as Hanwha (KRX: 000880), Orion Infrastructure Capital (NYSE: ORN), Catalus Capital, and Ascent Funds participating. To date, the company has raised over $100 million in funding, with investors including Volkswagen (OCT: VWAGY), Mitsui Metal (OCT: MMSMY), LG Technology Ventures (KRX: 003550), Sumitomo Corporation of Americas (OCT: SSUMF), Air Liquide (OCT: AIQUY), and SBI Investment (OCT: SBHGF).
Forge Nano's Atomic Armor technology involves nano-coating battery graphite anodes, silicon-based anodes, various high-nickel cathode materials, as well as solid electrolytes, conductive additives, and other material components. This can effectively prevent ion dissolution and material particle fragmentation, enhancing the battery's capacity, high-voltage stability, rate performance, fast-charging capabilities, extending the battery's service life, and reducing the risk of thermal runaway.
GM Ventures' investment will enable Forge Nano to further enhance its Atomic Armor™ Atomic Layer Deposition technology platform, which improves the performance and durability of underlying materials by applying thin coatings on surfaces. Forge Nano plans to continue expanding its battery material coating business, including internal active material coating services, external equipment sales, and the production of Atomic Armor power batteries.
General Motors and Forge Nano have also signed a strategic cooperation agreement to use the company's high-throughput Atomic Armor equipment for coating cathode active materials for GM's electric vehicle power batteries, improving battery performance and service life. The two parties will design next-generation battery materials based on the Atomic Armor™ Atomic Layer Deposition technology. Through this collaboration, General Motors will advance its lithium-ion technology path and enhance the overall performance of its electric vehicles using Forge Nano's innovative coating technology.
Anirvan Coomer, Managing Director of GM Ventures, stated that the main goal of GM Ventures' venture fund is to introduce disruptive technologies into GM's ecosystem to improve products and processes. He believes that Forge Nano's Atomic Armor technology has the potential to help General Motors change the game on a large scale.
Forge Nano began battery production using its Atomic Armor technology at the end of 2023. The company invested $165 million in building a 1 GWh-scale battery manufacturing plant in Morrisville, North Carolina. The Forge Battery factory will produce 21700 and 18650 lithium-ion batteries using Forge Nano's Atomic Armor coated material technology. The first generation of high-performance batteries, "Gen. 1.1 Supercell," is expected to have an energy density of 300 Wh/kg, with subsequent technology improvements to enhance the performance of existing and next-generation batteries. The Atomic Armor technology can also increase production efficiency and reduce battery costs by eliminating electrolyte additives and reducing electrolyte consumption. Forge Battery began bulk shipping A-Sample battery prototypes to existing customers in July 2024 to verify the capabilities of its graphite anode, silicon-based anode, and various high-nickel cathode material formulations in enhancing battery product performance. The factory is expected to start production in 2026 and plans to expand the facility to 3 GWh/year.
