France's Verkor bags EUR 100m to advance battery cell production

France-based startup Verkor on Tuesday said it has wrapped up a EUR-100-million (USD 118m) financing round co-led by Sweden's EQT Ventures and French carmaker Renault SA (EPA:RNO), raising funds to build a research and development (R&D) facility and a pilot line for production of its battery cells.

The funding round was also backed by EIT InnoEnergy, Groupe IDEC, Schneider Electric SE (EPA:SU), Capgemini SE (EPA:CAP), Arkema SA (EPA:AKE), Germany's Tokai COBEX and Demeter's Fund for Ecologic Modernisation of Transport (FMET). The French government and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region also took part in the round.

Verkor will use the funds to build the Verkor Innovation Centre (VIC) at its home base Grenoble, France. Besides running the pilot production line, Verkor intends to bring under the VIC's roof its advanced battery cell and module design shop, an R&D centre, testing facilities, module prototyping and a training ground for new generations of engineers and technicians.

The facility is slated to become operational in 2022.

Last week, Verkor and Renault announced an agreement under which the battery maker will initially supply at least 10 GWh of battery cells per year for the carmaker's vehicles. The capacity will come from Verkor's gigafactory, which is set to open its gates in 2024.

The gigafactory will have an initial capacity of 16 GWh of battery cells per year, with Verkor targeting over 50 GWh annually by 2030.

The company will supply batteries for electric vehicles and stationary storage across Europe.

(EUR 1 = USD 1.18)

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!