Anaphite is on a mission to revolutionize EV battery manufacturing with its patented dry coating technology. By cutting costs, reducing energy use, and enabling scalable production, the UK-based deep tech startup is delivering exactly what the battery industry needs at a critical moment of transformation.
Could you tell us about the moment that sparked the founding of Anaphite? What vision brought the founding team together?
Sam Burrow, our CTO & Co-Founder, and I met at Bristol University Innovation Centre in 2016. I was immediately fascinated by the graphene technology he was exploring and enjoyed discussing ideas with him. After performing some analysis on the composites he was making, I was convinced that there was potential. We spent evenings brainstorming at my flat, writing all over my glossy white kitchen cupboards in red marker pen which wouldn’t come off! – I lost my deposit due to those pink stains! In early 2018, my mum invested £3,000 in us which we used to file our first patent and in turn helped us secure our first round of investment that summer. We stopped our University studies in July 2018 to pursue Anaphite full-time, driven by a vision to commercialise Sam’s technology in a way that had the biggest impact for society.
What role do you play as COO, and how do the strengths of the founding team complement each other?
As COO & Co-Founder, I focus on securing funding, communicating complex concepts to investors, and supporting delivery across the organisation. I brought in most of our customers through networking at conferences, while Sam excelled at gathering technical insights through conversations with them. We’ve developed a natural dynamic where Sam identifies opportunities – like applying our technology to dry coating– while I drive focus and execution – like pushing the company to focus 100% on dry coating. Joe Stevenson, our CEO, brings a balanced perspective with his extensive commercial experience and gives Sam and I the confidence to apply our strengths more effectively. Sam tends to want to explore and keep options open, I’m eager to have a narrow focus, and Joe provides that crucial middle ground using his experience to lead collaborative decision making and bring everyone along.
Your patented chemistry-based technology has the potential to make EV battery production significantly more energy-efficient and cost-effective. Can you share more about how it works?
Our technology transforms electrode manufacturing by enabling the battery industry to shift to dry coating. Traditional battery manufacturing uses wet slurry coating requiring (often toxic) solvents, and enormous energy and cost inefficient drying ovens. Our approach is to produce a fully formulated, film-forming dry powder tailored to customers’ specifications – we call this the Dry Coating Precursor (DCP®). DCP® is produced using a suite of novel compositing techniques which forms the basis of our technology platform. Using DCP® means that our customers can eliminate those massive ovens and produce high-performance dry coated electrodes at mass scale. This enables manufacturers to reduce energy usage by up to 30%, lower production costs by up to 40%, and decrease manufacturing footprint by up to 15%.
Who are your main customers or partners, and how is Anaphite changing their expectations or workflows?
We’re currently working with automotive companies that together produce over 40% of all cars sold worldwide, spanning Tier 1 suppliers to OEMs. The industry is seeking viable dry coating solutions – Tesla acquired Maxwell Technologies in 2019, Volkswagen announced plans to industrialise dry coating via PowerCo by 2027 and established cell makers like LGES are targeting 2028. With both anode and cathode dry coated, manufacturers can save up to 2% of a total vehicle’s cost. While this sounds modest, in automotive manufacturing where fractions of a penny matter, these savings become transformative at scale. Our customers are validating our technology in their testing, recognising our approach offers a pathway to lower cost, lower carbon, regulation-compliant cell manufacturing.
What have been the toughest challenges you’ve faced so far, and what strategies helped you overcome them?
Personally, managing my self-expectations has been challenging – learning that my best is all I can give was a powerful lesson. From a business perspective, raising our Series A funding was a colossal amount of work – we pitched to at least 100 VCs over the course of a year, many of which proceeded to hours of follow ups, visits, and due diligence. Every fundraise has taken longer than anticipated, often because understanding our technology and the stage it was at required deep knowledge from potential investors. The key was finding investors who believed in our long-term vision. Joe and Sam played crucial roles during this process – Joe’s commercial expertise and leadership experience, and Sam’s technical brilliance helped us articulate our value proposition effectively and provide confidence in our ability to execute as a team.
Innovation is a buzzword in tech—what does it mean on a day-to-day level at Anaphite?
To me, innovation means giving people the freedom to create. Our organisation is built around three teams – Chemistry, Cells and Electrodes, and Scale-up Engineering – working collaboratively to develop, test, and scale new products. The Chemistry team explores new processes and materials, our Cells and Electrodes team validate that innovations meet customer expectations, while our Scale-Up Engineering team scales formulations from the laboratory at 100’s of grams, to 10’s of kilograms. We’re aiming for 1 tonne scale by the end of the year. This collaborative approach and constant feedback loop drive our day-to-day innovation.
How has the industry responded to your solution, and where do you see the greatest urgency for transformation?
The industry response has been positive because we’re addressing existing demand for dry coating. Battery manufacturers see our technology as enabling them to move forward. There’s urgent need for reducing the “green premium” – the additional cost of environmentally friendly options. This is strategically important for Western OEMs trying to source cheaper batteries. The EU battery regulation creates additional urgency, as manufacturers must now declare their production carbon footprint – our technology significantly reduces that impact.
Looking back, what would you say has been a key milestone or turning point for the company?
Two pivotal moments stand out. First, hiring Joe as CEO was transformative. Bringing someone with his experience as a former Johnson Matthey commercial director has been invaluable. Second, our decision to focus exclusively on dry coating technology has defined our business. When Sam initially suggested applying our technology to dry coating, I pushed for making it our exclusive focus. This strategic choice moved us from a materials science project to developing essential technology for the energy transition, fundamentally shaping who we are today.
How are you preparing Anaphite’s technology and operations for large-scale deployment?
Following our £10.4m Series A investment closed in August 2024, we’re demonstrating performance equivalence in both our own and customer testing, while quantifying the business case for our process. We’re scaling production at our Bristol site to validate manufacturing processes. Our commercial model offers flexibility – we either formulate DCP® and license technology packages for customer facilities, or manufacture components for customers earlier in their dry coating journey. This approach supports customers regardless of their transition stage. We’re working with partners for first full-scale deployment in 2028, focusing initially on key markets in Europe, Asia, and North America.
What trends in the energy or mobility sectors do you find most exciting—and how is Anaphite positioned to lead in those spaces?
The most exciting trend is eliminating the “green premium” with transformative technology. In batteries specifically, achieving cheaper solutions with high energy density is essential for making EVs economically competitive to their internal combustion engine equivalents. Lowering cost while maintaining performance is precisely what our dry coating technology enables.
If you could share three important lessons for fellow deep tech or climate-tech founders, what would they be?
First, prepare for fundraising to take longer than expected – we pitched to over 100 VCs for our Series A. Build relationships early with investors who understand your anticipated technology development timeline.
Second, know when to bring in experienced leadership, and be aware of your capability gaps. Hiring Joe as CEO transformed Anaphite – his leadership acumen and experience in navigating complex commercial relationships complemented our technical knowledge and ambition. This gave us confidence in our vision and our ability to execute it.
Finally, focus is critical for deep tech success. While exploring multiple applications is important at the early stage and continues to be tempting as you grow, concentrating on dry coating created the clarity we needed. Our most meaningful breakthroughs came when we focussed on mastering one significant problem. The climate tech landscape is vast, but the most impact typically comes from delivering transformative change in a specific area.
