Former Tesla directors join battery venture
DG INNOVATE, which is pioneering sustainable improvements to electric vehicle batteries and energy storage, has been boosted with a £2.4m investment alongside three former Tesla executives joining its management team.
The London Stock Market-listed firm, based in Caerphilly, is developing sodium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, which are a potentially cheaper and safer alternative to widely used lithium batteries.
As part of a management structure it has appointed Peter BardenflethHansen as its new chief executive.
He is currently chief executive of Zaptec, which provides charging systems for electric vehicles, prior to which he worked for Elon Musk’s electric car business, Tesla, in Europe.
Jochen Rudat, who spent 10 years with Tesla in Europe and played a key role in setting up its operation in China, will become an executive director alongside Christian Eidem (who is taking a 29.3% stake in the company through acquiring stakes of existing shareholders).
Mr Eidem was also a classmate of Mr Musk at Wharton Business School in the US. He has also worked as an adviser to Musk and Tesla.
To support its commercialisation plans it has secured £2.4m in loan note funding through Partronus Partners.
The notes can be converted into equity in a year’s time.
Peter Tierney, the company’s previous chief executive, has moved to a non-executive director role, while Dr Pat Symonds has resigned as a nonexecutive director.
Innovate is currently developing its products alongside a number of major manufacturers across the transportation and energy sectors, research institutions and the UK Government. It has filed 18 patents worldwide.
Nick Tulloch, chairman of DG Innovate, said: “We are delighted to welcome Christian Eidem, Peter Bardenfleth-Hansen and Jochen Rudat to DG Innovate, together with Christian taking a significant stake in the company.
“The new executive management team, with their world-class track record in the electric vehicle and mobility sector, recognise the significant commercial potential in DG Innovate’s technology and the wider opportunity to use DG Innovate as a platform to build a larger company focused on the sector.
“The funds raised will help progress these plans and I look forward to an extremely bright future for DG Innovate.”
Mr Bardenfleth-Hansen, incoming chief executive of DG Innovate, said: “The technology the DGI team has developed is exceptional.
“Jochen, Christian and I have spent a collective 90 years in this industry, and in the last few years have looked at hundreds of different technologies to invest in and commit to across the globe – DGI’s technology was the standout.”