Page 8 - bne_Tech_05_2020

Leaders
May 2020 www.intellinews.com I Page 8
Similarly, InoBat’s joint venture with San Diego- based Wildcat will bring the latter’s technology to Europe, as the two companies – both backed by IPM – plan to set up a €100mn, 100-MWh battery production line in Slovakia this year. The deal also fits with IPM’s venture-to-value approach, as Wildcat brings to InoBat its technology that will accelerate battery performance improvements and reduce R&D costs.
InoBat has another strategic partner agreement with ESS to develop energy storage applications and opportunities in Europe. Under an agreement with Czech utility CEZ, InoBat is working on a battery manufacturing plant in the Czech Republic, thereby bringing ESS’s proprietary salt water and iron-based technology from the US to Europe. The joint venture, InoBat Energy, will start testing the battery using CEZ’s utilities in the first quarter of this year, with the long-term aim of building a mass production line, InoBat said in a press release.
IPM was looking for an energy storage company, as it already has a significant solar portfolio, and discovered ESS. “When we found ESS we knew we could be the right partner to take its technology to the European market, help distribute and manufacture it,” said Bocek.
Discussing the reasons for bringing companies to the Danube Valley, Bocek highlights the engineering industrial heritage of the region, and points out that manufacturing arrived on the heels of its expertise in R&D: “Big car manufacturers are opening their plants [in the region] not because people are cheaper but because of the legacy of super smart engineers and good education systems.
“I would like to develop Danube Valley as a concept, really put it on the map with companies like InoBat and Tachyum,” he added.
A critical moment in Bocek's life was when
he was sent to high school in the US on a scholarship. This experience inspired him to give something back to other young people from Slovakia and he used his first Wall Street bonus
to set up the GBE Foundation to send talented young students from underprivileged backgrounds to study in the US. Many of these students came back to Slovakia, and several are now part of IPM or its portfolio companies.
Bespoke batteries for European EVs
Slovakia, where InoBat is based and where it is setting up its battery production, produces the highest number of cars per capita in the world. Nine of the 18 European OEMs produce within 200 kilometres of its new facility, making this the most concentrated supply chain for the automotive sector in the world.
The pilot project involves developing bespoke batteries for automakers, a strategy that turns the existing model on its head. “We are trying to take on the existing supply model we believe is very flawed, based on big Asian suppliers approaching automakers with a catalogue "take it or leave it" approach. As they have no alternative, automakers are stuck with the challenge of building the car around the battery,” explains Bocek.
By contrast, InoBat brings designers into the equation upfront, to design a battery that fits
the design of the car, made possible because of Wildcat’s technology: “We are taking the latest technology from Wildcat and putting it into the production of batteries customised for European automakers, trying to solve the European dependence on Asian suppliers.”
InoBat is in the process of raising a new round of venture funding, expected to close on €100mn, which will finance the pilot line. The company
is securing equity from IPM’s anchor investors and partners, and is in discussions with both
the European Investment Bank (EIB) and Slovak Industrial Holding, the largest sovereign wealth fund in CEE.
Work on building the production line is due to start in the second half of this year, and Bocek says the schedule shouldn’t be affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.