Origin Materials went public via SPAC in February-2021, as it was acquired by Artius Acquisition Inc at a valuation of $1.8bn. $200M is also secured from Danone, Nestle and PepsiCo, building on a packaging material (PET) partnership that goes back to 2016.
Its ambition is to use wood residues to create carbon-negative plastics, cost-competitively with petroleum products and capture a “$1trn market opportunity”.
Our patent analysis shows Origin has visibly been focused on 5-chloro-methyl furfural as a building block. For example, CMF can be reduced to MF (loss of chlorine), further reduced to DMF (loss of OH) and then combined with ethylene to yield pX.
Hundreds of potential catalysts, solvents and conditions are suggested for each reaction in the patents. This data-file outlines our understanding of Origin’s innovations and the key challenges for commerciality.
Enovix has developed a 3D silicon lithium-ion battery, which is 5-years ahead of the broader industry, with 2x higher energy density, around 900Wh/liter.
Specifically, silicon has up to 10x higher energy density than graphite as an anode material, but it is prone to swelling 300-400% when charging/discharging, and Enovix’s solution aims to overcome this issue.
The company went public via SPAC in February-2021, acquired by Rodgers Silicon Valley, with an implied post-deal valuation of $1.12bn.
This data-file assesses 10 Enovix patents from 2019-20, using our methodology for evaluating early-stage technology breakthroughs. Thus we have scored the specificity and intelligibility of Enovix’s core technology. Our conclusion are laid out in the data-file.
StoreDot is developing “extreme fast-charging” batteries for electric vehicles, using a proprietary range of nanomaterial additives. It claims its prototype cells can charge 5-6x faster than conventional lithium ion. The company is based in Israel, has raised over $130M, and secured backing from BP, Daimler and Samsung.
This data-file assesses 10 StoreDot patents from 2019-20, using our methodology for evaluating early-stage technology breakthroughs. Thus we have scored the specificity and intelligibility of StoreDot’s core technology. Our conclusion are laid out in the data-file.
This data-file reviews 25 of QuantumScape’s 2019-20 patents, in order to substantiate its claims of a solid-state battery than can achieve c50-100% higher energy density than conventional lithium ion batteries, 3x faster charging, while also surviving hundreds of charge-discharge cycles without degradation.
The single largest patent challenge that QuantumScape was aiming to overcome was manufacturing methods, discussed in 75% of the patents. This augurs well for transitioning into production mode.
Preventing dendrites and ensuring cell longevity were related, joint-second focus areas. Quantumscape is light years ahead of competitors, but the longevity is not fully de-risked by these patents.
Quantumscape’s proprietary cell designs are also assessed in the data-file,ranging from electrolytes and catholytes to more cutting-edge moonshots.
