The Luxembourg Future Fund 2 (LFF2) has made an equity investment into Silicon Valley based Lyten, a supermaterial applications company and global leader in lithium-sulfur battery technology.
The announcement was made by Luxembourg's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Xavier Bettel, the Minister of Finance, Gilles Roth, and the Minister of the Economy, SMEs, Energy and Tourism, Lex Delles, in their capacities as competent ministers for the national credit and investment institution SNCI (Société Nationale de Crédit et d'Investissement), together with Lyten CEO Dan Cook.
The investment in Lyten follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in October 2023 to establish Lyten's European headquarters in Luxembourg. As reported by the respective ministries, the investment highlights Luxembourg's commitment to advancing clean technologies and incorporating them into the European economy. Through this partnership, Lyten and Luxembourg will collaborate on research and development and the introduction of several Lyten products into the European market including its lithium-sulfur EV battery.
Lyten was founded in 2015 to turn its proprietary 3D Graphene supermaterial into applications that can profitably decarbonise the highest emitting sectors on the planet. Lyten is a world leader in lithium-sulfur, a battery chemistry on track to deliver more than two times the energy density of lithium-ion batteries and remove critical minerals like nickel, cobalt, manganese and graphite. Additional decarbonising products Lyten is bringing to market include methane monitoring mesh networks, electronics free smart tire sensors and green concrete additives.
At the press conference held in Luxembourg on Thursday 18 July 2024, Minister Bettel said: "Luxembourg is committed to utilising its talented workforce, research institutions and diverse economy to create the ideal environment for clean technology innovation to thrive. Lyten is an example of bringing the best of Silicon Valley innovation into Luxembourg’s ecosystem to drive truly meaningful reductions in carbon emissions while enhancing European industrial competitiveness."
Minister Roth added: "Luxembourg's leadership in the EU as a financial hub is attracting world leading technology companies from around the globe. Lyten is exactly the type of exciting, sustainable technologies that we want to welcome into the Luxembourg public and private ecosystem that expands across Europe."
Lex Delles also commented: "Luxembourg is building an ecosystem of companies that contribute to the creation of sustainable and competitive economic growth. Lyten is a young, disruptive company that fits into this ecosystem and underlines Luxembourg's attractiveness for such innovative companies. Their ground-breaking 3D graphene technology will contribute to the creation of new innovations and developments in our priority economic sectors."
The Luxembourg Future Fund Successor, launched in 2023 by SNCI together with the European Investment Fund (EIF), has invested approximatively $15.7 million into Lyten. In May 2024, the US company delivered "A" Sample batteries to European automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for commercial evaluation and will begin selling batteries commercially for non-EV applications, including in the space sector, later this year.
"We are delivering a battery for European EV, mobility, space and energy storage industries that can be made from abundantly available, locally sourced materials and manufactured in the European Union at a price below currently imported batteries at scale," stated Dan Cook, Lyten co-founder and CEO. "Lithium-sulfur is the battery that is making mass market electrification possible and we are humbled by Luxembourg's commitment to be a partner in Lyten's expansion into Europe."