2023 Fire Awards Blazer winners named
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2023 Fire Awards Blazer winners named

We began with 50 companies that are changing Chicago's tech scene for the better.

Those ventures, this year's Fire Awards honorees, collectively have raised millions of dollars, expanded their portfolios, launched venture funds and received recognition across the tech space.

Now it's time to reveal the winners of this year's Blazer awards, the ventures in each of the five Fire Awards categories truly shaping Chicago tech this year.

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NanoGraf Wins Chicago Inno’s Fire Award
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NanoGraf Wins Chicago Inno’s Fire Award

Among the highlights in the past year for NanoGraf, the Chicago startup that's building longer-lasting and higher-power lithium-ion batteries, is securing both an oversubscribed $65 million Series B and multiple Department of Defense contracts, and developing a new 17,000-square-foot facility in Fulton Market.

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Lithium-Ion Battery Breakthroughs
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Lithium-Ion Battery Breakthroughs

NanoGraf Corporation has developed a novel high-energy density Si-based anode material that has the long-term potential to replace graphitic-based anodes in lithium-ion batteries for a range of applications, from consumer electronics to electric vehicles.

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The EV Battery Wish List - Which automakers most want what in their ideal electric powertrain?
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The EV Battery Wish List - Which automakers most want what in their ideal electric powertrain?

Connor Hund says NanoGraf aims to onshore production of its silicon-anode material at a new Chicago facility beginning in Q2 this year. The company, whose backers include the Department of Defense, claims to have created the most energy-dense 18650 cylindrical cell yet, at 3.8 amp-hours. The technology key is a pre-lithiated core that allows an anode silicon percentage as high as 25 percent, versus cells that typically top out at 5-to-7 percent silicon.

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How NanoGraf is commercializing the “world’s most energy-dense” 18650 battery cell with stable silicon oxide
Media Coverage Jeff Helm Media Coverage Jeff Helm

How NanoGraf is commercializing the “world’s most energy-dense” 18650 battery cell with stable silicon oxide

Q&A with NanoGraf COO Connor Hund

Graphite, a pure form of carbon, is a critical material for battery anodes. Graphite’s physical structure allows it to store lithium ions, which merrily migrate to the anode when the battery is charged. Unlike cathodes, which can be composed of various combinations of chemicals (cobalt, nickel, manganese, lithium, iron, phosphorus et al), all current anodes used in EV batteries are composed mainly of graphite.

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Crown family part of $65 million investment in battery startup
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Crown family part of $65 million investment in battery startup

Battery-technology startup NanoGraf has raised $65 million to ramp up production at a West Side factory that will open later this year. Warrenville-based Volta Energy Technologies and CC Industries, the Crown family's holding company, led the investment. TechNexus and five other investors also joined the round, with existing backers, including Hyde Park Angels and Evergreen Climate Innovations.

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Can battery recycling help end US reliance on China?
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Can battery recycling help end US reliance on China?

“If you told me this is a 10-year play, I would say, yeah, that makes total sense,” Chip Breitenkamp, president of battery materials company NanoGraf, told TechCrunch. “I think 2024, 2025 is really aggressive for what they’re trying to do and the stipulations they put on the tax credit.”

Recycling electric car batteries is the next big space to watch as the first wave of electric and hybrid vehicles begins to retire from the streets.

“I’m a huge bull on recycling,” Breitenkamp said.

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