It’s been a dramatic few weeks for the UK’s electric vehicle (EV) battery tech ecosystem. The collapse of Britishvolt has brought perhaps more attention than ever to the industry. But in such an important and emerging area of innovation, there’s also more going on beyond the unicorns and headlines. In partnership with UKRI we’ve taken a look at the UK electric vehicle battery tech ecosystem, the twists and turns of its evolutionary journey, and its future promise beyond Britishvolt.
EV battery tech is still a nascent industry, one which has had (and will continue to have) its share of ups and downs. But it remains an massive opportunity.
The path of innovation is never did run smooth
The evolution of value creation for UK EV battery startups is a complex one. At a glance the chart is dominated by the rapid rise and fall of a couple of startups. Arrival, the smart and electric vans company which went public via SPAC in 2021 at a valutation of $13B has subsequently lost ~90% of its value, and Britishvolt, which also hit unicorn status with a $1B private market valuation, before entering administration 19 months later.
But, if we do look beyond these two outliers, the rest of the UK’s EV Battery startup ecosystem is still growing. The rest of the private startup ecosystem made up for the collapse of Britishvolt between 2021 and 2022, doubling in value.
The first steps of scaling
In terms of venture capital investment for UK EV Battery startups, there is much more funding flowing into the ecosystem compared to just a few years ago. For the last three years there have been multiple rounds of $20M+ for UK EV battery startups.
Corporate investors betting on batteries
Deep pocketed corporates are taking much more of an interest in UK EV battery tech than in the overall tech and startup ecosystem. 57% of funding for the ecosystem last year came from corporate investors. These are highly strategic bets for corporates, and allow startups to access the deep capital required for long term R&D and infrastructure investment.
International investor appetite
Investors all over the world are interested in EV battery tech, and willing to invest anywhere.
Full-stack supply chain
Even within a nice such as EV battery tech, there is a lot of diversity of applications. The UK has startup representation at every stage of the EV battery supply chain, from material production to end of life.
Future promise
Half of all startup value in UK EV batteries is in companies founded since 2015. Early and mid-stage funding is also holding up well. $108M was raised in early and mid-stage rounds in 2021, and $79M in 2022, despite a global full back in venture funding.
