Britishvolt Receives £40m in Funding from Glencore, Eyes Another £160m

Britishvolt has received £40 million in funding from mining giant Glencore.

The electric vehicle battery manufacturing startup based in the North of England has said that it will launch a series C funding round aiming to raise around £200 million to help expand its operations.

Britishvolt has raised around £100 million in funding so far and plans to use the extra money to develop its planned battery plant and build a research and development centre.

The startup also said it has signed agreements with four automakers to supply a total of 7 GWh in battery capacity in 2024 and 2025. However, at the moment, only Lotus has been publicly announced as a customer. 

Perhaps then, with Bentley and Rolls-Royce planning to unveil hybrid and electric cars in the coming years, these might be two of the unannounced customers.  

The company is claiming that, when its Blythe plant is fully operational in 2027, it should be able to produce enough batteries for more than 450,000 EVs every year.

Glencore’s involvement in Britishvolt is nothing new, however. At the start of the month, the two announced a strategic partnership to help build a battery recycling ecosystem in the UK. They also announced last year that they had signed a long-term cobalt supply deal. Glencore also owns an undisclosed stake in Britishvolt.

“This exciting project adds much to our existing relationship with Glencore supplying Britishvolt with responsibly-sourced cobalt. Recycling is key to a successful energy transition and has always been a major part of Britishvolt business model,” said Timon Orlob, Britishvolt’s Global Chief Operating Officer, last week.

“We’ve been looking for the perfect partner to help kick start a UK battery recycling industry and FTSE100-listed Glencore has expert historical experience in recycling. This JV will help us both to create a truly sustainable battery value-chain, create jobs and develop new battery recycling technologies. Both Britishvolt and Glencore are fully committed to reducing carbon across the supply chain.”