Estes Energy advances the state-of-the-art in batteries with $11M Seed round co-led by BMW i Ventures and Fortescue

SAN FRANCISCO, July 23, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Estes Energy Solutions, Inc. [Estes], a California-based materials and manufacturing innovator, today announced that it has raised $11 million in Seed capital with investment from BMW i Ventures and Fortescue as co-leads, with additional support from New System Ventures and early investor DCVC. With $20 million raised to date, this latest tranche of capital enable Estes to finalize development of its breakthrough multi-chemistry battery pack platform capable of using either NMC and LFP cells, and establish manufacturing operations in the United States.

For the past two decades, battery cell innovations have been the primary driver behind reductions in battery cost and increases in energy density. Estes is charting a new path to drive further improvements at the pack level—one focused on novel materials, advanced manufacturing processes, and architectural optimizations which unlock a new paradigm of performance and economics for high voltage battery packs in the US electrification market.

Mass-sensitive applications will benefit from Estes' NMC pack variant which exceeds 220 Wh/kg gravimetric and 380 Wh/L volumetric energy density, while cost-sensitive applications will be addressed by Estes' LFP-powered variant. Both systems are suitable for heavy-use applications and are seamlessly interchangeable with one another, offering OEMs the ability to serve broad markets from a single integration effort.

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