ARENA backs next-generation battery technology to boost EV performance
ARENA announced funding of up to $45 million for Sicona Battery Technologies to build a commercial-scale plant for its silicon-carbon anode material in the Illawarra.
Investor · 2 deals
Port Kembla, NSW
Every published round BlueScope took part in, and every parcel of existing shares it bought off another holder. Deals we hold but haven't published yet are not counted.
Companies BlueScope has backed in a published round, and companies whose existing shares it bought off another holder.
| Company | What it does | First invested | Rounds | Led |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green Gravity | Jun 2023 | 1 | 0 | |
| Hysata | 2 Aug 2022, Series A | 1 | 0 |
Fund closes reported for BlueScope, as distinct from the investments it has made.
Companies BlueScope has backed that another company then bought. An exit for the holding, not a deal BlueScope did.
| Name | Role | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Tania Archibald | CEO | RenewEconomy (Tue 17 Jun 2025), ARENA, RenewEconomy (Wed 31 Jan 2024) |
| Mark Vassella | CEO and Managing Director | @AuManufacturing |
| Sheree Taylor | Qld Specification Manager | @AuManufacturing |
Stories naming BlueScope. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
ARENA announced funding of up to $45 million for Sicona Battery Technologies to build a commercial-scale plant for its silicon-carbon anode material in the Illawarra.
Rio Tinto has signed a $35m-plus agreement backing Calix's green-iron demo plant in Western Australia, a project that earlier won an ARENA grant of as much as $44.9 million.
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Weekly roundup of readers' five favourite stories: a precast factory opening for a Sydney tunnel, a grants panel, Circuitwise's agreed New Zealand acquisition, NSW clean-tech grants, and BlueScope's Whyalla bid position.
ARENA commits $19.8 million to NeoSmelt, a low-carbon steelmaking venture backed by BHP, Rio Tinto, BlueScope, Woodside and Mitsui; the pilot project near Perth earlier secured $75 million from Western Australia.
South Australia has appointed Korda Mentha administrator over OneSteel Manufacturing, taking control of the Whyalla steelworks from GFG Alliance, while the state's promised hydrogen funding stays uncommitted and sale options are explored.
Wollongong energy storage venture Green Gravity has secured $9 million from HMC Capital, BlueScopeX, Pacific Channel and SCAP H to advance testing of its system that repurposes disused mineshafts for gravitational energy storage.
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Hadean Energy, spun out of CSIRO, has secured a grant to develop a 5kW electrolyser for EDF's UK power plant, following a trial at BlueScope's Port Kembla steelworks; the sum awaits final contracts.
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Melbourne construction-tech firm Matrak has raised a $2.9 million Series A led by Singapore's G&M Capital, with Our Innovation Fund and Simon Yencken aboard, funding expansion into China and a new Suzhou office.
Roundup of Australian manufacturing news: Gaia EnviroTech's post-investment board meeting with RFC Ambrian, Arafura's chief executive change, Adbri's maintenance shutdown, BioCarbon's relocation, and a federal grants round opening.
Canberra's first critical-industry grants send $135.8m to Bluescope for a Port Kembla furnace refit and $63.2m to Gupta's Liberty Steel for a low-carbon Whyalla furnace.
Weekly roundup covering five Australian startups' raises: Phasio's seed led by AirTree, CLT Toolbox, X-Hemp's crowdfunding, gridmo's first round, and Humpday's pre-seed from Antler.
CLT Toolbox, a Melbourne maker of software teaching builders about mass timber, has raised $1.5 million from BluescopeX, Gravel Road, Archangel Ventures, Flying Fox, Ecotone and several angels.
RFC Ambrian announces Hadean Energy, a venture formed with CSIRO to commercialise tubular solid oxide electrolysis for hydrogen production, with a completed funding round and trials planned at BlueScope's Port Kembla steelworks.
Steel maker BlueScope commits money and site space at Port Kembla for startup Green Gravity to build a gravity-based energy storage research lab, with construction beginning this month.
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A manufacturing roundup covering Hazer's R&D tax refund, Atomo's South African test supply deal, Acrow's asset purchase, PureFoods' product revenue, a solar farm completion, BlueScope's accelerator applications, and a drone modem launch.
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ARENA awards Calix nearly a million dollars toward a study of hydrogen-based ironmaking, scoping a demonstration plant using its ZESTY technology to cut emissions in steel production.
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NSW Environmental Trust grants $3 million to solar innovator SunDrive within a $6.5 million allocation shared with Hysata, Southern Green Gas and Quickstep; SunDrive's recent series A drew CEFC alongside Blackbird and Grok Ventures.
Roundup of manufacturing items: a training milestone at Nova Systems, Gilmour Space rocket work, a Lockheed Martin STEM program, an ATSE infrastructure statement, a steel research hub launch, and Queensland's new startup fund.
ARENA has granted $3 million to the Australian Industry Energy Transitions Initiative, a ClimateWorks and Climate-KIC-led project whose 16 corporate members will model pathways to decarbonise heavy-industry supply chains.
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency plans up to $2 million for ClimateWorks Australia's Industry Energy Transition Initiative, which convenes major companies to chart emissions reductions in hard-to-abate sectors such as steel, aluminium and chemicals.
Sandon Capital's founder criticises Treasury's proposed proxy adviser reforms as protecting underperforming directors, and cites voting data arguing shareholder revolts are rare despite claims of an unruly advisory industry.
ARENA has granted $300,000 to ClimateWorks for an industry initiative researching emissions reductions across five hard-to-abate supply chains, with BHP, BlueScope Steel, Orica and APA Group as participants.
Coronavirus disruption forces BlueScope, Boral and Cochlear to revise outlooks, while Carbon Revolution raises $25 million, Titomic $19 million, and sanitiser and infant formula exporters report surging demand.
Also @AuManufacturing
A $131 million Cooperative Research Centre applying manufacturing techniques to construction has won federal support, with $28 million in government funding announced and industry partners contributing the remainder.
CO2CRC received a NSW government grant to study cutting steelmaking emissions, including carbon capture and converting waste carbon monoxide at BlueScope's Port Kembla plant into useful products such as ethanol.