Ateios Systems leverages ORNL tech to strengthen US battery supply chain

Batteries power everything from cellphones to medical devices to defense systems. In 2021, Ateios Systems licensed technology from Oak Ridge National Laboratory to make battery manufacturing faster and cheaper—an innovation that now underpins the nation’s only domestic battery electrode supply chain, strengthening both economic and national security.

Ateios Systems has continued to build on ORNL’s initial innovation, establishing the nation’s only domestic supply chain for battery electrode manufacturing and expanding to fill commercial orders. By producing electrodes domestically, Ateios reduces reliance on foreign suppliers, ensuring critical components for both consumer electronics and defense remain secure and affordable. 

In recognition of their leadership in domestic battery production and innovation across performance, scalability, and impact, Ateios was named the 2025 Battery Manufacturer of the Year at The Battery Show North America, held in October.

This is remarkable growth for a startup that only had two employees in 2020, less than $5 million raised in venture capital and was just beginning to focus on battery manufacturing.

“In academia, we encourage people to dream — to imagine innovations that can redefine how we move, think and connect,” said Rajan Kumar, CEO of Ateios Systems. “Through entrepreneurship, I’ve come to realize that these dreams become reality only when we make innovation ubiquitous — through scalable production, resilient supply chains and a focused go-to-market strategy.

“In 2025, the global production for batteries was two terawatt-hour. It needs to increase five times to meet the growing demand, which will require major innovations in battery manufacturing. One of the biggest challenges is the bottleneck in electrode manufacturing, because of how capital intensive, slow and toxic it is to manufacture.”

Electrodes, where electrochemical reactions occur, include expensive powder materials such as graphite and mixed metal oxides. These materials and the current, complex manufacturing processes account for 77% of the total battery cost. The technology licensed by Ateios from ORNL shortens electrode production from minutes to seconds, significantly lowering capital and operating costs. 

The technology received an R&D 100 award and the license was recognized with a Federal Laboratory Consortium award for Excellence in Technology Transfer in 2022.

That year, Kumar joined the Innovation Crossroads program, a Lab Embedded Entrepreneurship Program node that connects hard-tech entrepreneurs to ORNL’s unique scientific resources and capabilities, along with experts, mentors and networks in technology-related fields who can assist fellows in developing their startups to successful businesses.

“Partnership that moves lab-developed technology into the marketplace is key to ORNL’s mission,” said Jennifer Caldwell, director of technology transfer at ORNL. “Most hard-tech startups fail because of the capital-intensive nature of readying cutting-edge technology for the market. By partnering with entrepreneurs, the lab can fast-track the capital-intensive research and development requirements of hard tech and then transfer those innovations to early-stage and established businesses, leading to economic impact and national security.”

RaiCure technology, scalable electrode production for national security and industry

Ateios Systems used the ORNL technology as the basis for its RaiCure technology, which improves upon traditional heat curing of the electrode by using a high-speed electron beam. The process is faster and less energy- and equipment-intensive, saving money while doubling the yield quality. 

The RaiCure technology can be applied to different chemistries, expanding the industries that can benefit from this manufacturing innovation, including consumer electronics and warfighter technology.

“Not only can we apply this technology to new and energy chemistries,” Kumar said, “but we also offer an electrode made entirely from raw materials from U.S. or North American suppliers that is competitive with foreign-made electrodes on price and performance. This is critical for strengthening the domestic supply chain.” 

Ateios Systems recently celebrated the first reported commercial sale of solvent-free, PFA-free electrodes to a Fortune 100 electronics company and its battery original equipment manufacturer (OEM). Ateios Systems is already selling other electrodes of synthetic graphite and lithium iron phosphate to a Department of Defense battery OEM. 

“The ability to source, build and deploy batteries in the United States is crucial for powering all next-generation technologies, including artificial intelligence, robotics and drones, which are essential for both national and economic security,” Kumar said. 

“It has been a privilege to see Ateios Systems rise to meet a critical need in American industry,” said Dan Miller, Innovation Crossroads program lead. “Their entrepreneurial spirit is anchored by a partnership with the national lab system to leverage ORNL research to drive impactful solutions."

“To meet the demands of consumers, they want to know we can provide a better solution that meets their performance specs at their volumes and against global competitive pricing,” Kumar said. “Our team hopes that Ateios Systems will be the model for both investors and entrepreneurs, such as myself, of a faster and more rewarding path to continue investing in batteries.”

UT-Battelle manages ORNL for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States. The Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science. – Brynn Downing