Nexeon closes £100m round led by National Wealth Fund with Korea Development Bank
This article covers Nexeon, an energy startup, closing a growth funding round of £100m, including a £52.6m commitment from the UK’s National Wealth Fund to back its move towards UK-based pilot manufacturing and strengthen the domestic battery supply chain. The funding is intended to support UK pilot manufacturing, advance commercialisation of silicon anode materials and bolster the UK electric vehicle battery supply chain.
Nexeon, an energy startup, has closed a growth funding round of £100m led in part by a £52.6m commitment from the UK’s National Wealth Fund to back the company’s move towards UK-based pilot manufacturing and to strengthen the domestic battery supply chain. The round also brings in strategic investors including Korea Development Bank and Honda Xcelerator Ventures, and signals continued public and private focus on building local capability in battery materials.
Why it matters
The funding is notable for combining public capital with international strategic investors to accelerate a materials technology that sits upstream in the electric vehicle battery value chain. The National Wealth Fund’s stake links this deal directly to UK industrial policy: the financing is explicitly intended to support local high-volume manufacturing capability, create skilled jobs and reduce reliance on overseas supply for advanced battery components.
For policymakers and investors, the round is a test of whether targeted public investment can unlock further private capital for industrial-scale deployment of new materials. The involvement of Korea Development Bank and Honda Xcelerator Ventures also reflects the global commercial interest in improving lithium-ion battery energy density and manufacturing yield.
Inside the product
Nexeon develops silicon anode materials designed to replace or augment conventional graphite in lithium-ion batteries. Silicon has a higher theoretical capacity than graphite; when incorporated correctly it can raise energy density, potentially extending range and cutting charging times for electric vehicles. The technical challenge is managing silicon’s tendency to expand and degrade during charge cycles; Nexeon’s approach focuses on silicon-carbon materials engineered for volume production.
The company already operates the world’s first volume production facility for silicon-carbon materials in Gunsan, South Korea, and says the fresh funding will support a UK pilot manufacturing facility and expanded R&D to move the technology towards higher-volume commercialisation.
Who are the investors?
The round totals £100m, with the National Wealth Fund providing £52.6m (reported as $70m). Other new investors named in the announcement include Korea Development Bank (KDB), a South Korean policy bank that supports industrial innovation and international expansion, and Honda Xcelerator Ventures, the open innovation arm of Honda Motor Co. Ltd. No detailed breakdown beyond the National Wealth Fund contribution was provided for the remaining capital.
The National Wealth Fund framed its investment as aligned with three strategic aims: backing clean energy innovation, driving regional economic growth and strengthening sovereign industrial capabilities by developing local manufacturing capacity. Korea Development Bank’s participation points to broader interest from East Asian industrial financiers in securing materials and supply-chain relationships, while Honda Xcelerator’s involvement signals automotive OEMs’ appetite for nearer-term improvements in battery chemistry and performance.
Oliver Holbourn, CEO of the National Wealth Fund, said:
Our investment in Nexeon is fully aligned with our mission to support clean energy innovation and economic growth. Backing advanced battery technology is key to building a globally competitive EV supply chain in the UK, as the thought-leadership paper we recently published identifies. This investment will help unlock private capital, support high-value jobs and drive regional growth, while helping to position the UK at the forefront of innovation in the battery sector.
Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey MP said:
Companies like Nexeon show the strength of British innovation. And if we are serious about growth, we must be serious about backing British businesses like this with conditions for them to start, scale and succeed here in the UK, as the National Wealth Fund are doing here. That’s how we’ll get good growth and jobs in every postcode.
Industry Minister Blair McDougall said:
This investment into Nexeon is the latest win for Britain’s world-class advanced manufacturing sector, which will support skilled local jobs and keep our battery industry at the cutting edge of research and innovation. Hot on the heels of a £130 million investment into net zero vehicle technologies, our Modern Industrial Strategy is doubling down on frontier industries like batteries to help businesses like Nexeon grow their business, create skilled jobs and drive good growth right across the UK.
If you're researching potential backers in this space:
- Explore our list of energy venture capital firms in the UK
- Browse our directory of energy angel investors in the UK
Founder perspective
Dr Scott Brown, CEO of Nexeon, welcomed the capital as validation of the company’s technical direction and its role in the battery supply chain.
Dr Scott Brown, CEO of Nexeon, said:
This investment is a strong endorsement of Nexeon’s technology and our role in enabling the next generation of lithium-ion batteries. The National Wealth Fund’s support reflects the strategic importance of our work, not only in advancing battery performance but also in strengthening the UK’s position in the global battery supply chain.
David Lamb, CFO at Nexeon, highlighted the composition of the new shareholder register and the commercial signal it sends.
David Lamb, CFO at Nexeon, said:
We continue to strengthen our shareholder register with the addition of the Korea Development Bank, Honda and the National Wealth Fund. The quality of the Nexeon commercial proposition is reflected in the quality of investors we continue to attract.
The bigger picture
This deal sits at the intersection of industrial policy and commercial strategy for energy and transport decarbonisation. Materials innovation such as silicon anodes is widely seen as a lever to improve battery energy density without relying solely on cell-level chemistry changes, but the path to mass adoption requires proven manufacturability and supply-chain integration.
Nexeon’s combination of an operational production site in South Korea and plans for a UK pilot facility mirrors a broader pattern: UK-based technology firms partnering with overseas manufacturing hubs while bringing production know-how and higher-value activities onshore. The participation of a national sovereign fund and regional policy bank underscores how governments and public financial institutions are increasingly prepared to co-invest in upstream battery technologies to secure industrial outcomes.
Across Europe, the race to localise battery supply chains and reduce dependencies has accelerated. The Nexeon round will be watched as an example of how public capital can be deployed alongside strategic corporate partners to move materials technologies from lab to factory at scale.
This funding round adds to a string of recent European efforts to bolster battery industrialisation and will factor into ongoing discussions about supply-chain resilience, green industrial policy and the role of public investment in supporting technology commercialisation.
They've invested in Nexeon
Get to know these energy investors
| Investors | Investment Focus | Startup Investments | Round Size | Connect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 National Wealth Fund( ) Leeds  | ||||
 Korea Development Bank( ) | ||||
 Honda Xcelerator Ventures( ) | ||||
| All investors | All investor sectors | All funded startups | All funding rounds |
Click here for a full list of 7,589+ startup investors in the UK