Safire Technology Group announces an $8 million capital raise
Funds will be used to further expand Knoxville R&D operations and Safire Group's relationship with ORNL.
There’s some really big news for the start-up community in Knoxville.
Safire Technology Group Inc., the 2024 winner of the PYA-sponsored Ballard Innovation Award, announced on Thursday $8 million in new financing led by Canaan Partners, headquartered in Stamford, CT, with participation from Correlation Ventures, Higher Life Ventures, Ajinomoto Co. Inc., Automotive Ventures, Outpost Ventures, Potomac Angel Capital, and MaC Venture Capital.
This Pre-Series A priced round of financing brings total funding to $11 million and fuels continued development of the company’s Safe, Impact-Resistant Electrolyte (SAFIRE™) technology to transform the safety benchmarks of Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries across government and automotive industries.
“Safire Group is revolutionizing Li-ion battery technology with a focus on safety. Their innovative solutions are addressing the critical issue of battery volatility and setting new standards in the industry,” said Hrach Simonian, General Partner of Canaan Partners.
“Safety should be intrinsic to battery design, not an afterthought. Safire Group’s commitment to redefining how these batteries are used in mobility and government applications promises to unlock unprecedented opportunities on a global scale.”
As part of its lead investment, Simonian will join Co-Founders John Lee, who serves as Chief Executive Officer, and Mike Grubbs, Chief Operating Officer, on the company’s board of directors.
“We are grateful to have a highly regarded, deeply experienced, and values-aligned investor in Canaan, and we are eager to continue building Safire Group together,” said Grubbs, something that was critically important in today’s “very difficult fundraising environment.”
What is SAFIRE™?
Simply stated, it is the world’s only patented and proprietary drop-in additive for Lithium-ion batteries that prevents fires through an instantaneous liquid to solid transformation upon kinetic impact, such as an electric vehicle (EV) crash or ballistic event. During an impact, Safire Group’s shear thickening electrolyte technology enables the battery to resist deformation and prevents a short circuit – providing EV makers with lightweight crash protection and enabling Li-ion batteries to be used in novel ways.
Invented after nearly a decade of research and development at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), SAFIRE™ is currently being deployed by the company in four distinct use cases across broad domains: a ruggedized electric motorcycle, a rapidly deployable sensor tower, an unmanned ground vehicle, and multifunctional body armor.
We had an opportunity to talk with Lee, Grubbs, and Knoxville-based Andrew Hanna, Chief Product Officer, ahead of Thursday’s official announcement. Those conversations ranged from the support from the local community to attracting talent to the region, and how soon the SAFIRE™ technology might be deployed.
“From the start, we felt welcomed by Oak Ridge, the University of Tennessee (UT), and the (Knoxville) Chamber,” Grubbs said. It helps, as Hanna noted, that start-ups and all businesses can operate “pretty efficiently” in Knoxville compared to the California.
“A key selling point (for the region) is ORNL,” he added.
The primary use of the $8 million will be to hire more top talent – PhDs, scientists and engineers, according to Grubbs. Since raising the capital, Hanna says the team has grown from eight to 11, and those additions came to Knoxville from Boston, Palo Alto, and San Diego.
On the point about commercialization, the technology is poised to find its way into Department of Defense applications in the next 12 to 18 months. Lee noted that Safire Group has received two Small Business Innovation Research Phase II awards from AFWERX and expects to receive a Phase III award in the next few months.
“There is significant demand across the government to integrate SAFIRE™ technology into novel, ruggedized applications,” he added. On the automotive front, Hanna cited the long product cycle lead times for the industry. It can take three to five years.
In early January 2023, Safire Group, located in the Washington, DC area, announced that it was expanding to Knoxville where it was taking lab space at the UT Research Park at Cherokee Farm to house its R&D operation. With the new investment, the company will be vacating its lab in the Institute for Advanced Materials and Manufacturing and moving into larger space in the new Innovation South building.
We reported on Monday (see teknovation.biz article here) that Safire Group captured first place in the Fall 2024 “EPIC Startup Pitch Competition,” hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Technology Transitions last week in Anaheim, CA. The prize came with a $50,000 award.
Hanna will be a panelist during an “Innov865 Week” event on October 2 titled “Raising Capital in Knoxville: A Look Behind the Scenes.” Hosted by PYA, the power behind teknovation.biz, the panel also includes John Derrick of Authentrics.AI, Britton Garrett of iO Urology, and Corey Tyree of Trillium. It begins at 2 p.m. in the Institute for Advanced Materials and Manufacturing. To register, click here.
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