August 28, 2024
Beltsville, Md.-based ION Storage Systems (ION), a Maryland-based manufacturer of safe, high-energy density, fast-charging solid-state batteries (SSB), recently received an additional $22.5 million in funding.
The recent funding includes a $1 million state grant from the Build Our Future Grant Pilot Program, a $1.5 million commitment from the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO), through the Maryland Venture Fund, and a $20 million award from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) Seeding Critical Advances for Leading Energy technologies with Untapped Potential (SCALEUP) program.
The company is developing an adaptable solid-state battery solution for a variety of applications, including defense and aerospace, consumer electronics, electric vehicles, and grid storage. ION's patented, solid-state lithium metal technology can offer a battery without cobalt, nickel, and other less sustainable materials, offering a variable architecture of revolutionary 3-D, ceramic structure, built with rapidly scalable manufacturing in mind. The company leverages a unique ceramic cell design that supports the use of current and next-gen cathode chemistries, promoting circularity and recycling, avoiding the issues and challenges of mining and refining rare earth metals.
ION participated in a regional I-Corps cohort in 2017. The company was also a resident in Mtech’s Technology Ventures Building from 2019-2021, before moving to its current Beltsville location.
ION’s funding acquisition was capped by a visit from Maryland Governor Wes Moore, accompanied by Congressman Glenn Ivey, ARPA-E Director Evelyn Wang, University of Maryland President Darryll Pines, Maryland State Senator Jim Rosapepe, Maryland State Delegate David Fraser-Hidalgo and other Maryland state and local officials, on August 6, 2024.
"ION Storage Systems is a Maryland original. Their success underscores our state's growing leadership in science, technology, and advanced manufacturing," said Governor Moore. "Today, we take another step toward driving public investment in the innovation economy, creating jobs, and spurring growth for years to come. In partnership, we will make Maryland the best place in the world to change the world."
Governor Moore also commended Eric Wachsman, ION’s co-founder, director of the Maryland Energy Innovation Institute (MEI2), and University of Maryland Distinguished University Professor, for the idea to make a bet on battery technology, finding a way to make it better, and for building it locally.
In May 2024, ION commissioned one of the largest solid-state battery manufacturing facilities in the U.S. The state-of-the-art battery production pilot line, adjacent to the company's headquarters in Beltsville, is expected to begin manufacturing 1MWh of battery cells this year, growing to 10MWh by early 2025, with a longer-term goal of 500MWh of capacity by 2028. The facility is expected to bring skilled manufacturing jobs to Maryland over the next several years.
ION Co-Founder, CTO and Board Member Gregory Hitz earned his Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from UMD in 2016, and his B.S. in chemical and biomolecular engineering in 2009.
