NanoGraf to expand manufacturing footprint with new West Loop facility
By Alex Zorn - Staff Reporter
March 7, 2024, 028:05pm CST
A little over three months after opening the first large-volume silicon-oxide manufacturing facility in North America in the West Loop, battery startup NanoGraf Corp. is adding to its local presence with a second, larger facility.
The Northwestern University spinout on Thursday said it will be opening a manufacturing facility at 455 N. Ashland Ave. The company has signed a lease for an existing property that it aims to convert into a 67,850-square-foot site that will house manufacturing space, laboratories, inventory and office space.
Connor Hund, chief operating officer at NanoGraf, said work on the site is expected to be complete by early next year.
NanoGraf opened its existing manufacturing facility in December — a 17,000-square-foot site at 400 N. Noble St. where it develops energy-efficient batteries. At peak production, the facility aims to deliver 50 tons per year of silicon oxide, a key component in batteries, including those that power electric vehicles.
Hund said the second facility will provide new capabilities for the company's battery cell manufacturing efforts.
"What the next facility does is it allows us to expand into more markets and increase our production capacity," Hund told Chicago Inno. He declined to specify the degree of increased production.
The new facility is expected to create 60 jobs — including construction jobs this year, followed by manufacturing engineers and operating technicians when the site opens in 2025.
NanoGraf's growth has been bolstered by its longtime relationship with the U.S. Army. The Chicago-based company has received approximately $45 million from the U.S. Department of Defense since it was founded in 2012. While work from a 2022 contract the startup received went to its Noble facility, Hund said the bulk of a $15 million contract and an $8 million contract announced in the past year will go to the new facility.
NanoGraf hopes to sell its first commercial cells later this year. Its initial customers will be all DoD customers.
JLL's Max Zwolan, Scott Brandwein and Michael Conway represented NanoGraf in the lease negotiations. CBRE's Matt Cowie and Larry Goldwasser represented the landlord, Prologis.