Customcells raises €60 million in financing round
The German company plans to use the money to advance electric flying. CEO Dirk Abendroth announces ambitious growth course.
European climate tech VC World Fund leads the round as lead investor together with Hamburg-based family office Abacon Capital; Vsquared Ventures and Porsche also participate.
Customcells is aiming for a leading role in the global premium battery market. To this end, the company has now successfully completed a Series A financing round and raised a total of EUR 60 million. Customcells intends to use the money to expand its activities in the electrification of air traffic. This includes certifications by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The company intends to significantly increased research and development activities. Specifically, a total of 50 patents will be registered in 2022, and these are to be significantly expanded in the following years, a press release states.
"Our goal is to create and shape a new premium segment in the international battery cell market. This includes a next generation of battery cells that are tailor-made to meet the needs of our customers. Customcells is set to become a global player – a major premium brand in its own right in the global battery cell business," says Dirk Abendroth, CEO of the Customcells Group since May 2022.
The existing investor Vsquared Ventures has once again increased its stake in the company. With Porsche, a second existing investor has participated in the financing round. The seed investor 468 Capital, which believed in Customcells' ideas early on, will remain involved in the company in the future, as will Primepulse. Customcells founders Leopold König and Torge Thönnessen will remain the company's largest shareholders after the funding.
The World Fund only invests in companies with climate technologies that have the potential to save at least 100 million tons of CO2e per year. To this end, the venture capitalist has developed its own methodology called Climate Performance Potential, or CPP.
Customcells – with locations in Itzehoe and Tübingen (both Germany) – is a spin-off of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and has been active in the development and series production of lithium-ion battery cells for more than ten years. The company works along the entire value chain, from development to certification and series production to recycling.
