Take Charge Podcast

Take Charge Podcast

By Jamie Sheard, Head of Battery Technologies at Strativ GroupTechnology
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Take Charge Podcast episodes

  • Ep 18: Ultion Tech - Why Battery Start-Ups Fail

    Why are so many battery start-ups failing? Does our world need more chemistries, or more batteries? Why should you manufacture in the US? For a Take Charge first, we're joined by a father & son duo; Johnnie and Taylor Stoker, Co-Founders of Ultion Technologies located in Las Vegas, Nevada. Johnnie is the CEO, who founded and grew K2 Energy to become a leader in the LFP space. During his successful 18 year tenure, with plenty of those spent in China, he learned invaluable lessons and recently identified a huge opportunity to focus efforts on an ‘American Made’ solution. To answer the aforementioned questions, we talk about horizontal v vertical integration, the EV gold rush versus other applications, misalignment between revenue and production, dry process and much more. It was a real honour to be joined by Johnnie and Taylor, and we're excited to see what the future holds for Ultion Tech. Let’s Take Charge!

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    51 min
  • Ep 17: Volexion - How Fast Should you Scale?

    As a battery technology start-up, how fast should you scale? Today’s guest, Damien Despinoy has the benefit of assessing and investing in energy storage businesses prior to co-founding Volexion in 2020. As the CEO, Damien talks us through their growth activities and what the future holds them, providing insights on ideal scaling pace. He gives his assessment on the current investment landscape across the battery industry, as well as talking us through their widely compatible drop-in graphene encapsulation technology. Damien, let’s Take Charge!

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    44 min
  • Ep 16: Amprius Technologies - Jon Bornstein, The Silicon Solution
    In this audio episode, Jon Bornstein, the President of Amprius Labs joins me to discuss the dynamic world of silicon, their recently expanded production facility in Fremont, their upcoming gigafactory in Colorado and how silicon will accelerate future of battery technologies and electrification. Over the past 11 years, Jon has been on an amazing journey with Amprius, so it was a real pleasure to speak with him about the challenges endured and landmarks achieved. Jon, thank you for Taking Charge.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    26 min
  • Ep 15: ION Storage Systems – A New Blueprint for Solid-State Batteries
    ION Storage Systems join me this week, with the VP of Supply Chain Neil Ovadia (top of screen) and the CTO Gregory Hitz (bottom of screen) sharing insight on the history of solid-state batteries, starting with why we still don’t have a commercialised one! ION Storage Systems look to change this, as they share their 3-Dimensional approach. We talk about compression, safety, manufacturing, supply chain and much more. We'll be watching their future with interest, as they attempt to tackle the solid-state dilemma! Greg, Neil, thank you for Taking Charge!

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    51 min
  • Ep 14: AM Batteries - Dry Battery Electrode 2.0
    Hieu Duong, the Chief Manufacturing Officer of AM Batteries joins me to discuss their dry battery electrode manufacturing process, whilst discussing his experience with Maxwell Technologies and Tesla post acquisition. We acknowledge their recent $30M series B funding round and what this means for the business, whilst talking through the various opportunities dry process manufacturing presents in the United States. As well as reduced costs, increased efficiency and environmental benefits, this process presents an opportunity for manufacturing talent across the US to more easily transition into battery manufacturing, versus existing wet-coating processes. This could be a huge solution to the personnel challenge we have, facilitating US Gigafactories. Hieu, let’s Take Charge!

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    29 min
  • Ep 13: Group14 – Sustainable Inclusion: How to approach DEI for long-term success

    Our guest for this episode is Charlotte Flanagan, who joined Group 14 Technologies last year as the Director of Diversity &Belonging, and recently broadened her role to also cover Sustainability. Diversity Equity & Inclusion is a topic I’m very passionate about. I released an article on the subject in May last year and I’ve been waiting for the right guest to join me on the podcast to delve deeper into the topics… until now! Charlottehas over 10 years of experience focusing on DEI with the likes of Alaska Airlines, SAP and DocuSign, prior to joining Group 14. In this episode, we discuss plenty of DEI topics, providing an array tips for our listeners and share some success and horror stories from years gone by. I’m a huge admirer of all the great work Charlotte is doing in this area, and it was a great honour to welcome her to the show. Charlotte, thank you for Taking Charge!

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    54 min
  • Ep 12: Ionblox Inc - Silicon, XFC and Manufacturing

    It was great pleasure to welcome our long-term client Ionblox Inc to the show, as Sujeet Kumar, the Co-Founder & CEO joins me to discuss Silicon Anode Technologies, XFC, Consumer Adoption and China v US manufacturing. As a business founder since 2007, armed with a PhD in Materials Science, Sujeet provides some of his best advice to fellow battery professionals. Sujeet, thank you for Taking Charge!

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    47 min
  • Ep 11: Ionobell - Raising Investment with Robert Neivert

    I’m joined today by Robert Neivert, who is the CEO of Ionobell. Rob has also spent 10 years in VC, with plenty of exciting ventures to his name. He’s an engineer turned entrepreneur, and his unique pathway to establishing Ionobell isn’t one to be missed. Rob brings so much energy to this podcast, using his VC experience to provide exceptional insight and advice to those looking to raise investment, whilst maintaining and optimising exciting investor relations, he essentially provides a step-by-step process.We review 2023 and project how 2024 will look from an investment perspective. Thank you Rob for Taking Charge and bringing so much value and insight for our listeners!

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    54 min
  • Ep 10: A Perspective on Investing in Energy Storage with Sente Ventures

    I’m joined today by the Founder of Sente Ventures; Serhat Cicekoglu. Sente Ventures are a VC firm, with a strong interest in energy storage, and a portfolio including the likes of Our Next Energy, NiveauUp and Ni-Cat. 2023 hasbeen a turbulent year to say the least when it comes to investment, and Serhat does a great job in offering perspective and advice to our community. Serhat is a person with real credibility, and I love the way he articulates investing in energy storage. This isn’t one to be missed! Serhat, it’s time to Take Charge.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    57 min
  • Ep 9: Forge Nano – Inspiring Women to Join the Charge
    Dr. Barbara Hughes Takes Charge, who is the Vice President of Energy Storage at Forge Nano. With a PhD in Materials Chemistry, Barbara has enjoyed over 15 years in interfacial nanomaterials chemistry and novel battery applications, leading the technical efforts for the battery innovation line at Forge Nano. Barbara is also the Chair of She’s in Power, a fantastic non-for-profit, providing a hands-on mentorship program, designed to grow and inspire the women who will be tomorrow’s clean energy leaders. We talk abou women in the industry, the importance of building diverse teams with an inclusive environment, the focus of Forge Nano’s Atomic Armour technology and their upcoming gigafactory in North Carolina. We're a huge fan of everything Barbara is doing and we have no doubt she is inspiring a generation. We need more people like Barbara! Shall we Take Charge?!

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    40 min

About Take Charge Podcast

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Take Charge is a global community of Battery & Electrification professionals, with a focus on people and technology topics. We collaborate with some of the most pioneering thought leaders in the…