Gaussion Raises £2.85M Seed to Use Magnetic Fields to Speed Up EV Battery Charging

Gaussion, a University College London spinout, has raised £2.85 million in seed funding to develop its breakthrough approach to electric vehicle battery charging. The round was led by BGF, the UK's most active growth economy investor, and the UCL Technology Fund, which is managed by AlbionVC in collaboration with UCL Business. The capital will be used to advance the company's technology from laboratory to commercial application, develop a portfolio of patents, and build the team needed to bring the product to market.

Gaussion was founded by Dr Tom Heenan and Dr Chun Tan, both researchers at UCL who developed the core technology during their time in the university's electrochemical engineering group. Their discovery — that applying an external magnetic field during battery charging and discharging cycles can significantly accelerate ion movement within cells — addresses one of the most persistent constraints on EV adoption: slow charging speed and accelerated battery degradation. The technology works by steering ions more efficiently within existing battery cell architectures, without requiring modifications to the cells themselves.

The implications are substantial. Rather than replacing the established battery supply chain or requiring redesigned cells, Gaussion's approach layers a magnetic field externally over existing lithium-ion technology, potentially enabling much faster charge rates while also reducing the electrochemical stress that causes capacity fade over time. The company holds a global portfolio of patents and patent applications covering the technology and its applications.

For the EV industry, this matters enormously. Consumer acceptance of electric vehicles has consistently stalled on charging speed — the inability to replicate the two-minute refuelling experience of a petrol station remains a major psychological and practical barrier. Battery manufacturers and automotive OEMs have invested billions in cell chemistry improvements, faster charging protocols, and charging network infrastructure, but the fundamental physics of ion diffusion in commercial cells has remained a ceiling. Gaussion's approach introduces a new variable — the magnetic field — that the rest of the industry has not yet explored at commercial scale.

The seed funding will support Gaussion's market entry, enabling the company to produce and sell initial products and explore licensing arrangements for broader applications. BGF and UCL Technology Fund cited the founders' scientific rigour and the technology's compatibility with the existing battery industry as key reasons for their confidence in the company's trajectory.

Sources

• EU Startups — Gaussion raises €10.9M Series A (August 2024)
• Tracxn — Gaussion company and funding profile