On Tuesday, Lithion Power Group, a Nevada-headquartered maker of lithium-ion batteries for the industrial, medical, robotic, defense and energy markets, announced that it has received a growth equity investment from Koch Strategic Platforms (KSP), an investment arm of Kansas multi-industrial conglomerate Koch Industries.
Financial terms of the transaction were not made public, aside from confirming that KSP would become a strategic minority investor in Lithion, and that Canadian private equity fund TriWest Capital Partners, the billion-dollar asset manager that invests across sectors via six separate funds, remains Lithion’s majority owner.
“Lithion has assembled the building blocks to effectively execute on our strategy to bring reliable domestic manufactured cells and battery modules to market providing electrification solutions for numerous products in a variety of end markets,” Lithion President and CEO Tyler Armstrong upon announcing the Koch investment. “Securing KSP as an investment partner will accelerate the implementation of our growth initiatives and strengthen Lithion’s position as the reliable supplier of cells and battery modules for our customers.”
KSP invests thematically across four key sectors: computing and connectivity, industrial automation, health care and energy transformation, targeting companies where the considerable resource heft of Koch Industries can best accelerate growth, and also provide new platforms for Koch.
“We believe Lithion’s customizable cell and battery module solutions will be a game changer for industry seeking electrification technology beyond the ‘one size fits all’ approach. KSP is excited to partner with Lithion and help accelerate their delivery to market,” Koch Strategic Platforms Managing Director Jeremy Bezdek said.
“Electrification of everything else”
This week marked the official opening of Lithion Battery’s 80,000 sq ft manufacturing facility in Henderson, Nevada, now home to the only non-captive lithium-ion manufacturing business in the United States. This will also serve as the production base for Lithion’s Valence line of battery modules used in electrification applications across multiple industries.
As part of a strategy it has dubbed “electrification of everything else,” Lithion will manufacture and supply cells out of the new manufacturing facility for domestic customers, while continuing to develop evolving technologies.
