Born in the labs of the University of Cambridge, Echion Technologies now produces the world’s leading niobium-based battery anode materials. It’s flagship XNO anode material has been specifically engineered to facilitate the effective electrification of the heavy-duty vehicles that many industries across the world rely upon. When utilised in a lithium-ion battery, XNO enables heavy duty vehicles to fully fast charge in less than 10 minutes, maintain high power even while operating in extreme temperature and humidity conditions, and achieve a cycle life of more than 10,000 cycles.
Thanks to the company’s partnership with CBMM, the material has now transcended from lab-based chemistry to a commercially available product, available at the 2,000 tonne per year scale. However, without the presence of two members of its Senior Leadership Team, Echion’s journey could look significantly different.
Sarah Stevenson is the company’s Chief Operating Officer and oversees logistics, facilities management, human resources, regulatory affairs, and compliance. She also serves as the Legal Representative for the company’s Wholly Owned China Entity, which she and Neal established in 2024.
“After securing my PhD in Organic Chemistry from the University of Sydney and completing postdoctoral research at Oxford University, I began my career at FTSE 100 company, Jonson Matthey. I spent over a decade there, contributing to research, development, technology transfer, and management of a research group.”
Following leaving Johnson Matthey to explore other opportunities, Stevenson began working at the University of Cambridge as a Project Manager.
“While working at the University of Cambridge, I met Echion co-founders, Jean de La Verpilliere, CEO, and Dr Alex Groombridge, CTO, and immediately recognised the potential of the power of their anode technology. I formally joined the team and have since supported Jean and Alex to achieve significant growth for the company. From a small lab-based team based at the University, to now a team of over 50 staff members and a product that is commercially available, at scale, I have enjoyed using my full suite of experience and expertise to sustainably scale Echion’s business.”
Echion’s journey from lab to commercialisation would not have been possible without significant backing from esteemed investors from around the world.
Ceri Neal, Chief Financial Officer, has been leading the efforts to secure the funding that has enabled the company’s growth journey. Neal is also responsible for fulfilment and maintaining strong financial management to ensure robustness and resilience as the company scales.
“I have been working in accounting and finance for over 20 years and, following achieving qualification with Grant Thornton UK LLP, I moved into industry roles within Tech SMEs. Prior to joining the Echion team in 2022, I worked with high-tech scale-ups, where I focussed on scale-up and raising capital to support the company’s ambitions.”
Neal now oversees all elements of the company’s financial performance, including crucial business fundraising.
“Echion’s product truly has incredible potential to decarbonise numerous industries, but without proper funding, the company’s ambitions would not be able to be recognised. 2024 was a significant year for Echion in terms of growth, during which we finalised our Series B investment round. In total, we secured £39 million funding, including contributions from Volta Energy Technologies, CBMM, BGF, Cambridge Enterprise Ventures, and Barclays Sustainable Impact Capital. It was crucial for us to find the right investors who truly recognised the power of XNO and would be willing to invest time, passion, and capital into helping us achieve our goals.”
Echion Technologies is an example of a company that recognises the importance of diversity at c-suite level. Without the expertise and drive of both Stevenson and Neal, the company would not be in the position that it is currently in, with an innovative battery chemistry that is commercially available, at scale, today.
