Holyvolt raises $45 million to develop AI-driven battery materials

Holyvolt recently merged with San Diego’s Wildcat Discovery Technologies, a firm that has tested more than 500,000 cells and completed over 225 projects for customers such as BMW. Holyvolt says it has trained AI models on Wildcat’s high‑throughput data, creating a loop where lab tests sharpen predictions and the models guide the next experiments. The startup claims its lab operates about ten times faster than conventional R&D, based on a customer case study.

The first product from this loop is a cathode family called DRX (disordered rocksalt), which Prast describes as delivering “NMC‑like” performance at roughly the landed cost of LFP and with a fully friendly supply chain. Holyvolt plans to start commercializing DRX in 2027, beginning with unmanned aerial vehicles, just before a U.S. defense law bars Pentagon purchases from Chinese battery makers after Oct. 1 2027.