Liminal
Assembly Line
Liminal Secures Strategic Investment from LG Technology Ventures To Expand and Accelerate Commercial Deployments
Liminal, a leading battery manufacturing intelligence company with a mission to accelerate the global adoption of electric vehicles and clean energy, announced that it has closed a $10M strategic investment round catalyzed by LG Technology Ventures, the venture capital arm of the LG Group. The round also included new support from Chailease Holdings as well as participation by current investors including ArcTern Ventures, University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners, Good Growth Capital, Chrysalix Ventures, and Ecosystem Integrity Fund.
Liminal’s quality control solutions use ultrasound inspection and physics-informed data science to deliver powerful insights to battery cell manufacturers to accelerate production ramp-up, improve quality, and reduce scrap and costs. The company deployed its in-line inspection product in a European gigafactory late last year, has an active pilot with a major Asian battery cell manufacturer, and will be deploying with a US-based automotive OEM in the coming weeks.
Could AI-powered defect detection boost battery manufacturing?
Liminal’s EchoStat technology sends non-destructive ultrasound pulses into battery cells, collecting information about their physical properties. It essentially creates an image of a cell, including any potential anomalies created by production errors. The hardware itself is modular and, according to Liminal, is easily integrated into factory lines.
Then comes the artificial intelligence layer. ML models analyze the information collected via ultrasound to predict cell life performance and quality, and detect specific defects and product failures. The result is a greatly shortened quality testing timeline that, according to Hsieh, takes feedback time from weeks down to mere minutes.
🔋🚙 Liminal Raises $17.5 Million in Series A2 Funding to Catalyze Production of Safe, Reliable, High-Quality EV Batteries
Liminal, a battery manufacturing intelligence company, today announced a $17.5 million Series A2 funding round, led by climate tech fund ArcTern Ventures, joined by new investors Northvolt and Ecosystem Integrity Fund, and with continued support from Chrysalix Venture Capital, Good Growth Capital, University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners, Volta Energy Technologies, Impact Science Ventures, and Helios Climate Ventures. Liminal will use this funding to scale its EchoStat® inspection systems into factory-integrated solutions for global battery manufacturers, tapping into the rapidly growing demand for safe, reliable, and more affordable EV batteries.