Wollongong-headquartered battery materials developer Sicona Battery Technologies has signed a $15 million (USD 9.7 million) licensing agreement with India’s Himadri Speciality Chemical Ltd to accelerate the global commercialisation of its flagship silicon carbon anode material, SiCx.
The investment will help expand Sicona’s pilot plant operations in North Wollongong, located 116 kilometres south of Sydney, and scale up production to meet surging demand for sampling materials from major global cell manufacturers.
Himadri will licence intellectual property required to establish and operate a SiCx production facility in India, with sales targeting the automotive sector.
Sicona Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder Christiaan Jordaan said the deal is transformative for the company.
“It enables the commercialisation of SiCx at an unprecedented speed and scale without shouldering the burden of the first-of-a-kind facility funding alone. Himadri’s manufacturing pedigree and global reach make them the ideal partner,” Jordaan said.
Sicona Battery Technologies
Sicona’s SiCx is a non-silane, mechanical silicon carbon material, which unlike silane-based products that rely on expensive, volatile and emissions-intensive gas processes, uses inert and safe raw materials, allowing for location-agnostic manufacturing and competitive pricing, making no compromise in key specifications and performance.
SiCx is engineered to tackle limited range and long charge times for electric vehicle batteries. When blended with graphite (typically in proportions of 5–20%+), SiCx boosts energy density by over 20% and cuts charge times by more than 40%, all while maintaining compatibility with current lithium-ion battery manufacturing lines.
Himadri Speciality Chemical Ltd Chairman, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Anurag Choudhary said the collaboration with Sicona marks a turning point in the world’s advanced battery materials journey.
“Sicona’s SiCx delivers two core advantages—higher energy density for longer driving range, and faster charging capability that dramatically reduces wait time for EV users,” Choudhary said.
Royalties from SiCx sales in India will provide a steady income stream supporting Sicona’s focus on delivering its own large-scale facilities.
“This partnership proves that early-stage climate tech startups can overcome the challenges of first-of-a-kind commercialisation with the right partners, and we’re now laser-focused on delivering the facilities in India and the USA,” Jordaan said.
The 6,500 tonnes per annum (tpa) US commercial production facility in the country’s southeast is planned to expand capacity to 26,500 tpa.
In 2023, Himadri acquired a 12.7% stake in Sicon for $10.4 million.
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