Tallahassee-based startup Piersica Inc. has developed next-generation technology to make batteries faster and more efficient.
It specializes in “solid-state batteries,” which refers to a rechargeable battery that uses a solid electrolyte (the material that allows batteries to recharge and discharge energy) instead of the liquid or gel electrolyte that’s in traditional lithium-ion batteries.
Founded in 2020, the startup is gaining momentum and seeking resources to launch its next phase, along with scaling up in the coming years.
So far, it’s successfully secured major investors and funding, including a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) Programs Phase II award.
“We develop batteries with very high-energy density. This is very important in the battery space,” said Claudiu Bucur, Piersica’s founder and CEO. “Currently, all commercial batteries have pretty much the same weight. We are developing a battery that has less than half the weight of the commercial battery.
This, Bucur said, is a crucial factor in extending the life of various products like electric vehicles and powering military vehicles and artificial intelligence.
The company produces a compact battery cell by way of its staff of seven engineers and specialists. In the next year, Bucur said the company hopes to automate its operations so that it can produce even more products for the market.
“Currently, we do everything by hand. All of the processes are handmade,” Bucur said.
Bucur shared details about some of its industry competitors, several of which have been operating for more than decade. Some of their technology centers around silicon anodes or lithium metal.
“But, they are still below us,” Bucur said. “These are technologies that were sort of the most advanced technologies 20 years ago. Over the past 20 years, these technologies improved, came out of the labs, out of academic labs, into the startup world and now this is where they are.
Our technology is very new and basically it puts us above them,” Bucur continued, adding the battery market is projected to reach about $300 billion by 2030. “It’s a leap step above them.”
Tallahassee Chamber hosts event to spotlight Piersica’s potential
On Nov. 4, the Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce hosted a “Lunch and Learn” networking event to highlight the company’s technology, its leadership team and resources it’s been able to find in Tallahassee.
This company is working closely with Florida State University’s Division of Research and utilizing laboratory space within Ignite Tallahassee — the university’s new 40,000-square-foot business incubator in Innovation Park that’s catering to early-stage and high-tech startups with resources like labs, office space and mentorship.
Piersica started with one lab at Ignite Tallahassee and now has a total of five labs within the last year.
Eduardo Gonzalez Loumiet, the chair-elect of the Chamber’s Board of Directors, said he first learned about Piersica from Ricardo Schneider, former president and CEO of Danfoss Turbocor, adding — “it was immediately clear this wasn’t just another startup.”
“This is a company with the potential to compete globally in advanced energy and materials science — and the fact that they chose Tallahassee as their home base says a lot about where our region is headed,” said Gonzalez Loumiet, chair of Ruvos, a healthcare technology company in Tallahassee.
He went on to say there’s “real momentum across the ecosystem” and said Ignite FSU is helping to fuel entrepreneurship on an exciting level that could help fuel more jobs in the capital city.
“Add to that Piersica’s energy innovation, and you begin to see the story unfolding — a story where research meets business, health meets tech, and innovation drives opportunity,” Gonzalez Loumiet said.
Bob Galyen, a battery industry veteran and advisor on Piersica’s team, traveled from Indiana to Tallahassee this week for the Chamber’s Lunch and Learn event.
Within his 48-year career, Galyen has worked for the world’s four largest companies, including two decades at General Motors and worked at other major companies like Magna International E- Car in Ontario, Canada and Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited in Ningde, Fujian Province, China.
He’s considered one of the world’s leading voices in battery energy capacity. In an interview with the Tallahassee Democrat, Galyen said he’s got a “passion for making a clean environment with battery technology,” — adding “I’m an industrialist. I turn technology into cash, and that’s why I’m down here to speak on behalf of Claudiu’s company.”
“They are the best probable corporation that I’ve seen that’s got an advanced technology which gives us a leapfrog,” said Galyen, who said Piersica’s products are “cheaper, better and faster.”
This article was sourced from coverage of Economic Development Reporter TaMaryn Waters at the Tallahassee Democrat. She can be contacted at tlwaters@tallahassee.com and follow @TaMarynWaters on X.
