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“Our model is really to form partnerships with the large established players and license out our technology,” said Dan Blondal, chief executive of Nano One. “They’re going to be better at supply chains … but what we are good at is process innovation.”

So rather than targeting the global lithium market, which remains dominated by five large companies, Nano One is focusing on what is expected to be a $23 billion market for cathodes by 2025.

Cathodes, the part of a battery where electrons pass, is also where much of the innovation driving the advance of electric vehicles in recent years has occurred.

Through partnerships with Volkswagen and other automakers, and the Chinese mining and cathode company Pulead Technology Industry Co. Ltd., and at its pilot plant in Burnaby, Nano One is hoping to find ways to reduce the cost and time required to make ceramic powders for cathodes.

With backing from government grants, including $2 million from Sustainability Development Technology Canada and $3 million through the Automotive Supplier Innovation Program, and with 13 patents, Nano One has built up $64 million in market cap.

It has no revenue, yet its facilities have emerged as a symbol of Canada’s rising green tech economy, where several policy initiatives have been announced in recent years.