Energy startup Gaussion raises £21m led by BGF and AlbionVC
This article covers Gaussion, an energy startup spun out of University College London and the Faraday Institution, which has raised £21m in a growth funding round to accelerate commercial deployment of its magnetic battery control technology. The funding will be used to scale its MagLiB retrofit system and Aeon control chip and software into automotive, aerospace, data centre and consumer electronics applications, supporting operators, manufacturers and fleets aiming to improve charging speed and battery longevity across existing lithium‑ion packs.
Gaussion, an energy startup spun out of University College London and the Faraday Institution, has raised £21 million in a growth funding round to accelerate commercial deployment of its magnetic battery control technology. The funding will be used to scale its MagLiB retrofit system and Aeon control chip and software into automotive, aerospace, data centre and consumer electronics applications — a move that could change how operators extract more life and performance from existing lithium-ion cells.
Why it matters
As demand for faster charging and higher uptime grows — driven by electrified transport, AI infrastructure and autonomous systems — improving battery system performance without changing cell chemistry is becoming a pragmatic route to higher efficiency. Gaussion’s approach aims to add a control layer that boosts charging speed and longevity across existing lithium-ion packs, which could reduce operating costs for fleets, data centres and manufacturers while avoiding the long lead times of new cell chemistries.
Inside the product
Gaussion’s two primary products are MagLiB, a magnetic PCB retrofit system designed to sit outside battery cells, and Aeon, a proprietary control chip and AI-enabled software platform. Together they apply an external magnetic field and closed-loop control to manage charging and discharging, with the company claiming compatibility across any lithium-ion chemistry and form factor.
The technology is backed by 66 patent applications across 17 patent families originating from the Faraday Institution research base. Gaussion says its tech is being evaluated across 14 active commercial programmes with vehicle, aerospace, energy-storage and consumer electronics manufacturers — ranging from shortening EV and drone charge times to smoothing spikes in data centre demand while protecting battery lifespan.
Operationally, the company moved into a new 40,000 sq ft facility in central London in October 2025, which Gaussion describes as one of the largest battery R&D sites in Europe. Since its 2022 founding, the business has raised over £33 million in total.
Who are the investors?
The round was co-led by BGF and AlbionVC, with follow-on participation from Autotech Ventures, UCL Technology Fund, DN Capital and Future Ventures. Future Ventures, led by Steve Jurvetson, is a new participant in this round. The company also notes an existing link to investor and board member Simon Rothman.
The deal increases Gaussion’s balance sheet to support commercial roll-out across targeted verticals and follows previous backing from some of the same investors.
In the announcement, Dennis Atkinson, Co-Head of Early Stage at BGF, said:
Gaussion has made huge strides in a short space of time to validate its technology, scale operations and increase commercial traction. The business possesses a truly differentiated offering, underpinned by an incredibly versatile product, with the potential to address a fundamental performance and cost issue in battery systems. We are delighted to invest in Gaussion for a third time, made more exciting as the deal that took BGF over the threshold of £5 billion invested in UK & Irish businesses.
In the announcement, Sebastian Hunte, Investor at AlbionVC, said:
Batteries underpin the modern world, from EVs and grids to consumer devices and data centres, yet every battery faces the same fundamental ceiling on performance and lifespan. Gaussion has created a new layer in the battery stack: a magnetic intelligence layer that dramatically lifts performance across any chemistry or format. It is a rare opportunity to back a company that touches the entire battery lifecycle, from gigafactory formation to deployment, and we are delighted to continue to support the team as they accelerate the commercial rollout across target verticals.
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Founder perspective
Gaussion was founded in 2022 as a UCL and Faraday Institution spinout; Tom Heenan is CEO and co-founder. The company says the new financing will be channelled into scaling deployments of MagLiB and Aeon, expanding its commercial pilots and supporting production and testing at its London facility. That focus on retrofitability is central to Gaussion’s pitch: offering manufacturers and operators a way to improve performance without redesigning cells or packs.
The bigger picture
The announcement underscores a broader shift in the battery sector: alongside research into new chemistries, investors and operators are increasingly interested in systems-level solutions that extract more from existing cells. If Gaussion’s magnetic control layer can be validated at scale, it could offer a pragmatic lever to accelerate charging infrastructure impact and improve asset utilisation for fleets and data centres.
In the announcement, Oliver Christian, His Majesty's Trade Commissioner to North America at the UK Department for Business and Trade, said:
Greater Together LA brought together our shared values - innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship - to unlock new opportunities for both our economies to grow and thrive. Gaussion is a brilliant example of why the UK is Europe's number one tech ecosystem and how British deep tech can generate world-leading solutions with global commercial potential. As we deepen our technology partnership with the United States, companies like Gaussion demonstrate why the UK remains one of the world's most exciting places to innovate, invest, and do business.
Gaussion’s progress will be watched by UK and European energy and automotive investors as policymakers push to industrialise battery value chains while meeting rising demand for fast charging and resilient power. If the technology scales, it could become an important part of the toolbox for improving battery performance across a wide range of sectors.
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