Wie Nano One die LFP-Lieferkette außerhalb Chinas neu aufbaut

Wir sprechen mit Alex Holmes, President und CSO von Nano One, über die One-Pot-Prozesstechnologie für LFP-Kathodenmaterial, den Aufbau westlicher Lieferketten und die Brücke von Pilotproduktion zu Lizenzeinnahmen. Politik, Partnerschaften und konkrete Meilensteine zeigen, wie der Midstream außerhalb Asiens entsteht.

• One-Pot-Technologie für vereinfachte, saubere LFP-Herstellung
• Rolle von Candiac als Pilot-, Demo- und Kommerzstandort
• Partnerschaften mit Sumitomo Metal Mining und Rio Tinto
• Lizenzmodell mit modularen Anlagen und wiederholbarem Design
• Marktbedarf durch ESS, Rechenzentren und EVs
• Politische Treiber: 45X, NDAA, G7 und NATO
• Technische Fortschritte: 50 Prozent höherer Durchsatz
• Investoren-Signale: Ausbau, Erstaufträge, C-Samples, US-Guidance

Nano One Materials

WKN: A14QDY
ISIN: CA63010A1030
SYMBOL: NANO.T

Transcript

Begrüßung Und Themenaufriss

Aktientalk 0:00

Herzlich willkommen zu einer neuen Folge vom Aktien Talk. Heute haben wir einen besonderen Gast mit Nanowan Materials, einem innovativen Technologieunternehmen aus Kanada, das die Zukunft der Batteriematerialien neu denkt. Wir werfen einen Blick auf ihre patentierte OnePot-Technologie, nachhaltige Produktionsprozesse für Kartonenmaterialien und die Rolle von Nanowern in der globalen Transformation hin bis zur Elektromobilität und Energie Speicher.

Vorstellung Nano One Und Fokus LFP

Aktientalk 0:27

Zu Gast habe ich heute den neuen President and CSO, Alex Holmes. Alex, welcome to the show. Thank you, Marcus. Alex, before we start, could you give our listeners a brief overview of your reputation, of your CV? What have you done so far?

Alex Holmes Karriereweg

Alex Holmes (Nano One) 0:46

Yes, um, well, I've been in the capital markets and critical minerals uh sector for nearly 25 years. I joined Nano One approximately five years ago as the chief operating officer, where for the last five years I've really focused on building up the kind of foundational underpinnings of Nano One and our technology, um, helping get uh the right people and our team involved, um, bringing together strategic partnerships like Summitomo Metal Mining, Rio Tinto, uh, acquiring the Candiac plant, which is our commercialization hub in Quebec. Prior to that, I spent approximately 10 years in investment banking, where I helped raise capital. I conducted MA transactions and worked with uh senior executives and boards of companies of critical minerals projects. And after that period of time, I spent the next 10 years involved on the company side as part of senior leadership team. I was involved with building and assembling approximately four different critical minerals companies. And when I say assembling, what I mean is building from the ground up. Uh, so uh finding the right assets, building the board, the management teams, financing these companies. Two of those became exits with liquidity events for shareholders. Um I spent uh some time as the uh CEO of a uh software as a service uh technology company uh from inception to first commercial sales. And I'm still on the board of that company today, and that company has over 20 million in recurring revenue as of today. And then that ultimately brought me to uh Nano One, um, coming from the lithium space into Nano One. And I met Dan Blondeller, CEO and co-founder many, many years ago.

Aktientalk 2:34

Yeah, I spoke with Dan over a year ago, and we had a very interesting interview. So could you remind our listeners what Nano One does and why it is relevant?

Alex Holmes (Nano One) 2:46

Absolutely.

Was Nano One Macht Und Warum Es Zählt

Alex Holmes (Nano One) 2:47

So Nano One is a Canadian process technology company changing how cathode active materials, or CAM, as it's referred to, are made for lithium-ion batteries. In particular, lithium iron phosphate or LFP CAM is our key focus. So the urgency right now is that batteries have gone beyond electric vehicles and are now viewed as strategic and critical infrastructure, especially for battery energy storage and defense readiness. So countries are looking for secure, local, and scalable supply chains. Our advantage is simplification. Our patented process reduces steps in manufacturing, and that thus reduces costs, and we eliminate significant wastewater and byproducts associated with the conventional methods. The conventional manufacturing method hasn't changed for approximately 30 years. So our technology can lower the environmental intensity, it eases permitting, and it supports regionally sourced raw materials. And this is really important as it helps reduce concentrated supply chain risk. Product development and process optimization are based at our innovation center in Birdebee, British Columbia. Our piloting, demonstration, and commercial production are at our commercialization hub in Candiac, Quebec. And this is all supported by a team with more than 15 years of commercial cathode manufacturing experience supplying global cellmakers around the world. Our know-how and track record, coupled with our technology advantages, is what is driving demand for our technology today. Until approximately 18 months ago, LFP was an afterthought outside of Asia. But today it is the dominant chemistry. And in energy storage solutions, it represents more than 90% market share. We've also been backed by government and strategic programs. Most notably, we've had support from the Government of Canada, the Government of Quebec, and the U.S. Department of Defense. And that has helped us build a really strong technical and operational foundation. Absolutely.

Aktientalk 4:56

So can you describe some of your recent important milestones that support your path to commercialization?

Standorte, Team Und Markttrend LFP

Aktientalk 5:03

And can you provide an update on existing or new strategic partnerships?

Alex Holmes (Nano One) 5:09

Sure. Well, since we last spoke, uh we've advanced the main catalyst we set out about a year ago. So Candiac is uh stage setup designed for what we consider measured growth. So we have approximately a 200 ton per annum pilot line operational today for customer sampling, continuous process and product improvement, and small commercial sales. And we're targeting first commercial agreements for the end of 2026. In parallel to that, the full scale demonstration line, which is also at Candiac, has automation improvements underway. So we're in detailed engineering today, starting to procure uh equipment uh to enable approximately 800 tons per annum of commission capacity. We're targeting that commissioning to be in the first half of 2027. And that'll help support larger volume qualification and also growing uh commercial sales from that plant. And then commercially, we've deepened our key partnerships. So I mentioned SUMI Tumble Metal Mining earlier. They invested in us in uh September of 2023. We were approximately a $300 million valuation at that time. They own just under 5% of Nano One. And the investment thesis for them was to work with us closely on our technology with a goal of commercializing our technology. So last year we publicly confirmed, they confirmed that uh we are a key technology

Meilensteine Und Partnerschaften

Alex Holmes (Nano One) 6:36

partner for LFP cathodes, and that then led to expanding the collaboration to pursue LFP production opportunities with different strategic customers together. For Rio Tinto, also a reminder for listeners: Rio Tinto owns also just under 5% of Nano One. They invested in the middle of 2022, uh, also a roughly a $300 million valuation. And they invested in us because they are a major supply chain partner. So to date, what we've done is we've qualified their lithium for our LFP cathode production, and that supports securing large volume raw materials supply, which is also a very important part of our business model. And then from a mass market or from a market access standpoint, I should say, we joined something called ALTA, ALTA. So that's America's first lithium and battery supply chain accelerator. And we did that to help promote U.S.-based LFP cam plant opportunities. So as a reminder for the audience, our business model is to license our technology to partners that are building large-scale LFP plants. And this approach supports our technology getting to market faster and capturing a larger percentage of the market compared to a go-it-alone approach. So this means we can also tackle broader geographic opportunities. Our partnership with Rio Tinto advanced with the pre-qualification of high-volume battery-grade lithium carbonate as an input, as I mentioned before. And this is to support our LFK LFP cam production process and those larger plant iterations. This strengthens our technology and license offering by validating this critical feedstock. We also save approximately a year of pre-qualification. So our licensing partners don't have to go and pre-qualify this material. So that helps them manage supply chain risk and accelerate their time to market for our future plans. And then our value proposition uh also supports the need for secure, diversified, cost-effective localized supply chains. Um, the next part thing we've achieved recently is with our alliance with Worly Engineering, or it's actually Worly Cometics. So maybe a little bit of background on Worly Cometics first, because I think this will help the audience understand the importance of them. Whorley Cometics is a technology solutions company that is owned by one of the world's largest engineering firms. That technology solutions company develops and deploys technology packages uh globally around the world. They are a leader in sulfuric acid plant technology design. And today they're building the largest sulfuric acid plant in the world for a company called OCP, which is one of the world's largest fertilizer companies based in Morocco. So, why is this important? Is because they have been in business for over 60 years. They do over 150 million a year in revenue. And despite competition coming in from lower cost jurisdictions like China, they are still the preferred choice. And that is because of their

Lizenzmodell Und Skalierungsfahrplan

Alex Holmes (Nano One) 9:45

uh technology solution. So we partnered with them to help leverage their experience and their platform to deliver our technology partner to licensing customers. So as it relates to that alliance, we've advanced our licensing path with them through our design one build many approach. And so this is a modular plant design approach to help accelerate time to market. And our partnership with Worly Cometics continues to develop what we call our LFP cam package technology solution. So this includes a commercial ready CAM package targeted for completion and marketing in the first half of 2026. And that includes a production line designed and engineered to a class three cost estimate, a preliminary process design package, and qualified vendor quotes for key equipment. So why is this important? It's important because our licensing target customers can therefore get greater certainty on CapEx, OpEx, and access to a ready-to-fabricate equipment vendor supply chain. And then financially, uh, we've maintained capital discipline, we've completed some financings, we've raised uh non-dilutive funding, and we continue to draw drawdown on these non-dilutive funding supports uh sources. So this extends our runway into 2027.

Aktientalk 11:04

Yeah, and and what is your path to revenue and targets for first sales?

Alex Holmes (Nano One) 11:10

Yeah, so business model-wise, we have two paths to revenue. So, first one is product sales, direct product sales, and that comes from our LFP plant in Candy at Quebec. And it's being developed really as our stepping stone to first revenue. So, our objective there is with our 200-ton pilot line, which is already operational, and then our subsequent expansion to 800 tons per annum, we'll be targeting first commercial agreements for the end of 2026. So this will be the direct sales component of our business model. The second one, which is really where the growth comes from, and that's the licensing side of our business model. So manufacturers can license our technology and replicate modular plant designs with fewer steps. So there's lower CapEx, lower OpEx, lower energy intensity, and faster deployment. And our business model there is to earn recurring licensing revenue as well as additional income through process support, optimization, and subsequent technology updates.

Aktientalk 12:09

So, Alex, what has changed in the LFP market outside of Asia and where does nanophone wid fit strategically?

LFP-Markt Außerhalb Asiens

Alex Holmes (Nano One) 12:19

Well, the midstream, which is um where cathode active materials are made, does not exist for LFP today outside of China. Or sorry, outside of Asia. Outside of China, the only commercial plant today is owned by our uh strategic partner, Sumitomo Metal Mining. The restrictions of getting technology out of China have only been uh heightened and it's created a major supply chain risk. So today, technology access and know-how is the bottleneck. The rest of the world needs cost-effective solutions to manufacture CAM or cathode-active material locally and or outside of China. The demand for LFP is driven today by defense and energy storage system needs for grid reliability, hyperscaler AI data centers, and renewable energy support. And then tomorrow it's being driven by mass market electric vehicles where Europe continues to grow rapidly. North America is growing, but at a slower ramp up. The world outside of China, outside of China, is projected to need over 4 million tons of LFP uh per year by 2035. And today China makes over 98% of it. So we look at that and we see a $40 billion per year market opportunity that is not built today, and we are targeting our licensing, our technology into that market. That's the growth opportunity we see. We also have the most experienced LFP manufacturing team outside of Asia. Our team in Quebec was the first in the world to commercialize this material in 2006, and for over 15 years, we're supplying tier one cell manufacturers in Asia. This is a key advantage of us.

Politik, Sicherheit, 45X Und ESG

Aktientalk 14:02

And what role do supply chain security, ESG considerations, geopolitical independence play for your customers today?

Alex Holmes (Nano One) 14:11

It's a really interesting dynamic unfolding uh today. So we're seeing policy design in the form of Critical Minerals Production Alliance in the G7 nations. We're seeing significant production tax credits, capex incentives, and the end customer is really starting to recognize risk diversification. And so these are all key drivers that we see as more rapid technology adoption. The need for LFP CAM itself is also a major theme in Canada, the US, the EU, and the Indo-Pacific regions. In the US alone, cell manufacturing pipeline will require over 600,000 tons per year of LFP CAM in the next five years. And we see our one-plot technology and our know-how as the obvious choice. Our solutions also being reinforced by policy. So in the US, the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, or also known as NDAA, is an approximately $900 billion funding authorization for the U.S. Department of Defense, national security programs, and military construction. Importantly, it restricts U.S. military procurement of batteries and components from what are called prohibited foreign entities starting in 2028. Simplistically, prohibited foreign entities are also known as entities with ties to China. And Congress has maintained what's called the 45X Manufacturing Tax Credit, which is a $35 per kilowatt tax credit for cells manufactured in the US. However, sourcing CAM from those prohibited foreign entities puts this significant tax credit at risk. And so we see this as a major driver tool. It's localized cathode. And when you look at our technology value proposition, this is where we see the tipping point for adoption. And then if we look more broadly from there, uh NATO defense spending commitments are on the rise, moving from 2% to 5%. And the G7 nations have agreed to uh collaborate strategically on critical minerals, and that's starting to push supply chains towards allied localized production. And then lastly, that policy alignment has been matched with tangible support for Nano One. So we received an award of uh $12.9 million US, or about $17.8 million Canadian from the U.S. Department of Defense with drawdown and availability of funds still remaining on that. We've also secured $18 million Canadian from the government of Quebec, and that includes a $15 million interest-free loan with drawdown remaining and a $3 million grant. And then we've also been awarded $5 million from uh NRCAN, which is part of the Canadian federal government, to support our ongoing expansion plans in Candiac. And lastly, a $2.8 million grant from NGEN, which is a next generation manufacturing supercluster. And that's a Canadian industry-led nonprofit.

Technische Fortschritte In Candiac

Aktientalk 17:16

And um, how has the uh Candiac one-pot facility evolved over the last past years? And particularly in terms of scalability and production consistency, have there been any meaningful technology breakthroughs or process improvements that have increased the commercial value of your technology?

Alex Holmes (Nano One) 17:37

I think most importantly, operationally, we've continued to strengthen the execution at Candiac. Uh, last year we included um commissioning or proprietary agitator equipment in our commercial size uh 20,000 liter one-pot reactor. And that actually increased throughput capacity by about 50%, and as a result, also reduced the cost of production. So that was probably the most significant advancement in our technology scale-up and optimization last year.

Aktientalk 18:06

Which risk do you see more clearly today than a year ago? Technological, uh, commercial, macroeconomic? What do you think about that?

Risikoanalyse: Tech, Kommerz, Makro

Alex Holmes (Nano One) 18:17

I'll address each of those separately. So on the technological front, we've largely de-risked scale up in our existing Candiac plant. So important for the audience to recall that it is production size, commercial size equipment in that plant today that we are making LFP with. And this is a big distinguishing factor from uh other companies that are at lab scale or small pilot scale. Our expansion will automate existing commercial scale equipment and be a demonstration of the larger modular plant designs I referred to earlier. And those designs are uh established and being designed for 25,000 ton per annum capacity. And this is what we are licensing. On the commercial side, really it's a risk more about timing. We saw a slowdown in urgency for electric vehicles, but then a big acceleration in the need for energy storage system needs. The ES or ESS market. And that market is growing at over 50% per year. And the US is number one, and the EU is number three for ESS data sector needs today. And then macroeconomically, 18 months ago, there was little to no LFP cell manufacturing plants outside of China. So this was a limiting factor on the pace of adoption of our technology for cam production. Today, though, the US has a pipeline of over 290 gigawatt hours for 2030, which equates to over 600,000 tons per year of LFP cam needs. Going from zero to a very large volume needs capital investment in the midstream to make cost-effective CAM at scale.

Aktientalk 19:53

Is there a development or metric that investors should pay particularly close attention to in the coming

Wichtige Signale Für Investoren

Aktientalk 20:01

quarters? They may currently be underestimated.

Alex Holmes (Nano One) 20:05

I think there's several things to keep an eye on that investors should watch for. So, first one, watch for regular updates on our Cany expansion project. And that'll be a signal of us approaching technology demonstration to support the licensing. It'll also support increased capacity for direct sales. And that plant will give us the capabilities for to produce the final qualification sample size, which is referred to as the C sample. And that'll drive large volume offtake for licensing plants. Excuse me. The second thing I would watch for announcements related to those first direct sales orders from that existing Candiac production capacity. Also, advancements in our customer qualification programs through the different sample sizes. We are in the process of finalizing that CAN package with Worly. So watch for our go-to-market technology licensing progress, both from our direct to customer sales channel, but also from our Worly Cometics sales channel. Another big one is watch for guidance in the US. This is more macro. Watch for guidance in the US around what is considered a prohibited foreign entity, as it'll be the driver of non-China reliant LFP cam production in order to secure those billions in 45X production tax credits. So as I mentioned earlier, there's roughly 290 gigawatt hours in the LFP cell manufacturing pipeline. If you equate that to the number of the quantum of tax credits at risk, that's approximately $10 billion in tax credits that are available for these cell makers. But it's at risk if they rely on Chinese LFP CAM. And so this guidance will really help large industrial players make those definitive supply chain investment decisions. To date, people have been waiting on this guidance. We recently had some IRS guidance, other than the last uh week or two. Out of the US, this will continue to help refine and then help give those large industrial partners the confidence to make those big investment decisions. And then lastly, I would keep watching for the uh

Katalysatoren Für Neubewertung

Alex Holmes (Nano One) 22:13

announcements from NATO nations on increased defense spending. Moving from 2 to 5% is a significant amount. And there is more and more battery applications today in defense than there ever has been. So it's important to recognize that defense volumes are small, much smaller than ESS and EV applications, but they're very strategic. And the mandate from uh certainly from the US, and we think that would come from other NATO nations, is to diversify away from Chinese supply chains. And today, the majority of the LFP CAM that goes into G7 nations or NATO nation defense applications comes from China. So there's a move to move away from that.

Aktientalk 22:55

Okay. In in your view, what would need to happen to the market to fundamentally re-rate 901 right now?

Alex Holmes (Nano One) 23:05

Well, we can't speculate, of course, but simplistically, we think the market catalysts are really comes down to two things. So one of them is more macro themed. So a little bit of a repeat of what I said, but I would really focus on the midstream where cathode active material is made. It has become front and center on all the conversations in the industry today. And until now, the industry's been relying on China. And so no big moves have occurred. Now that the LFP cell plants are coming to the West, and we

Warum Nano One Relevanz Hat

Alex Holmes (Nano One) 23:37

think we'll see more and more impetus to tip up this localized midstream for CAM. So watch for large dollars starting to flow into the midstream from government. And the private sector has largely been sitting on the fence waiting for this U.S. guidance on whether they can source in China and still get that tax credit. And this is becoming more and more clear with the recent guidance from the IRS that it will be very challenging. And then the second thing is to look at Nano One specifically. So we feel that indications from first direct sales customers will be the nexus at which our scaled-up technology is selling a commercial product to an established cell customer. And so not only is this important from a revenue standpoint for Nano One, but we believe that this will have a cascading effect on the pipeline of target licensing customer engagements, and that'll also support additional growth of direct sales.

Aktientalk 24:31

Alex, at the end of the show, I'm always asking my guest, why should people care? Why should people care about Nano One, Alex?

Alex Holmes (Nano One) 24:41

It's a great question. Um, I will respond by focusing on what drew me to Nano One. Um, so the our vision of changing the way the world makes battery materials is something that drew me towards Nano One because it's such a nascent sector outside of Asia. And I feel I can have a real impact on the energy transition. It's a foregone conclusion now that we're going to largely batteries as a source of energy storage. And for me to be able to have a big impact on that is very exciting. The other one is we've I feel we've lost the ability to manufacture and add value in the West. We've largely exported our abilities and capabilities. And by being part of bringing a technology solution that we see as a leapfrog to the way it's been conventionally done, and bring that to allied nations with our know-how and our expertise and our licensing offering, I think that is uh really, for me, that's really motivating. And I think it's something that we need to do. We need to be able to bring cost-effective value-added manufacturing to secure supply chains. It's a national security uh uh item for sure. And then I think lastly, you know, being at the forefront of establishing new supply chains that are cleaner and we're able to leverage that technology. Um, before I would say the mistakes that, you know, the path that have been made in the past, where we've kind of charged down a certain path and realized in the after effect that we've created a new problem. Being able to be part of uh assembling and developing a supply chain that's cleaner, more cost-effective, and resilient is also a big motivating uh factor for Nano One. And I think that's what should be something that the audience looks to as well as being part of that journey uh and making a change and making a difference is is important.

Schlusswort Und Verabschiedung

Aktientalk 26:40

Alex, thank you for your time. I know it's Friday morning, and uh yeah, have a great weekend and uh we'll be here really soon.

Alex Holmes (Nano One) 26:49

Marcus, thank you so much for your time.

Aktientalk 26:51

Bye bye. Bye bye.