Lithium's Rising Star: How One Founder Is Revolutionizing the $546B Battery Industry EnergyX says its breakthrough tech can extract 300% more lithium than today's methods, attracting attention from General Motors and the U.S. Dept. of Energy.
By Entrepreneur Store Edited by Jason Fell
Disclosure: Our goal is to feature products and services that we think you'll find interesting and useful. If you purchase them, Entrepreneur may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners.
Quick, name a resource more important today than lithium.
It's a tough one to answer. Lithium is the essential resource powering the modern world. Some of the fastest-growing industries — smartphones, electric cars, and renewable energy, just to name a few — rely on batteries powered by lithium. That's because lithium-ion batteries typically charge faster and last longer.
So much of this "white gold" is needed that lithium demand is projected to soar 20X by 2040. That growth is creating a massive opportunity for companies that can supply lithium. As Elon Musk put it, "Do you like minting money? Well, the lithium business is for you."
One founder has taken him up on that. Enter Teague Egan and his company, EnergyX. As a seasoned climate activist and successful entrepreneur, Egan knew the growing importance of lithium for renewable energy. He also knew meeting the world's demand for lithium the traditional way simply wouldn't work. He founded EnergyX in 2018 to solve the problem.
Egan's idea for EnergyX was simple. Instead of relying on outdated methods, EnergyX would build technology to extract lithium faster, cleaner, and less expensively. Five years later, EnergyX says its tech can extract 300% more lithium than legacy methods.
Now, investors are lining up to back EnergyX, including General Motors. GM just led EnergyX's $50M Series B round and is partnering with EnergyX to help secure their lithium supply.
The opportunity isn't limited to companies like GM either. Everyday investors can invest in EnergyX right alongside GM. More than 4,600 people have already invested. You can, too, by checking out their website here.
Want to learn more about why investing in EnergyX is such an exciting opportunity? Here's the story on how EnergyX is transforming the lithium industry, and why it could be one of the most exciting investment opportunities of 2024.
How LiTAS™ is disrupting the $546B market.
The market for battery materials is projected to reach $546B by 2035. But lithium production isn't keeping up. Even worse, up to 60% of the world's lithium comes from methods that harm the environment.
Fortunately, EnergyX's technology solves both problems. Backed by 75+ patents across 19 patent families, EnergyX says its Lithium Ion Transport and Separation (LiTAS™) technology can recover more than 90% of lithium from brine in just days. That's 3X more lithium than what's achievable today, all without wasting water, space, or time. No harsh chemicals are needed either.
What also sets EnergyX's tech apart is that they're the only company with all three direct lithium extraction technologies: adsorbents, solvents, and membranes. They can tailor these technologies to minimize costs and maximize lithium yield for customers, no matter the conditions, the company says.
Their tech has the potential to unlock lithium supplies in hard-to-reach or previously uneconomical places, and it's one of the big reasons car companies like GM are so intrigued.
GM leads EnergyX's $50M funding round.
Converting U.S. cars to EVs will require 20X more lithium by 2040 than the entire world currently produced just five years ago. For a natural resource to increase in demand by 2,000% is unheard of.
To help secure their access to lithium, General Motors is partnering with EnergyX, leading their $50 million investment round.
The collaboration aims to revolutionize the North American lithium supply chain through EnergyX's innovative direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology. GM is investing across the entire battery supply chain in North America, from raw materials to full battery cell production.
This partnership addresses the global lithium shortage bottleneck in scaling EV production. EnergyX's achievements include a groundbreaking pilot plant in the Lithium Triangle with exceptional lithium recovery rates.
GM's investment arguably solidifies EnergyX's position as a leader in DLE technology. It will also support their R&D efforts, including pure lithium metal anodes and solid-state lithium metal batteries.
Car companies aren't the only groups racing to secure lithium either. It's becoming a national security issue, too.
Securing North America's lithium supply.
Lithium has become so essential to meeting the world's energy needs that China and the U.S. are in a race to control the global lithium supply. China spent more than $60B in the last decade to become the largest lithium refiner in the world. China is also expanding its reach by accumulating producers internationally.
For the United States to meet its surging demand for lithium — a minimum of 500,000 tons per year will be needed by 2034 just for its EVs — it can't afford to rely on foreign sources like China. In fact, relying on China for lithium is a national security nightmare.
While North America hasn't traditionally been a major lithium producer, it can be with the right technology. One small region in California alone — Imperial Valley — has the potential to supply 50% of the lithium needed for American EVs alone.
EnergyX's extraction technology has the potential to transform the United States and North America into a lithium powerhouse. They've even secured a $5M US Dept. of Energy grant to extract lithium from geothermal brines in California.
With this sort of transformational potential, EnergyX is attracting a lot of interest from investors. Here's how you can invest.
The EnergyX investment opportunity.
EnergyX is raising capital from investors. This opportunity to invest in EnergyX is open to everyone, not just Wall Street banks or accredited investors. You can buy stock in EnergyX for $8 a share. More than 4,600 investors have already joined them, investing nearly $60M to date.
This is an exciting opportunity to invest in a private, early-stage company alongside companies like GM.
To learn more about EnergyX, their roadmap for growth, or the investment opportunity, just head to their website by clicking here.
Disclosure: This is a paid advertisement for EnergyX's Reg A offering. Please read the offering circular at invest.energyx.com.
Entrepreneur may receive monetary compensation by the issuer, or its agency, for publicizing the offering of the issuer's securities. Entrepreneur and the issuer of this offering make no promises, representations, warranties, or guarantees that any of the services will result in a profit or will not result in a loss.