iPod inventor Tony Fadell backs battery startup

Bloomberg

iPod pioneer Tony Fadell is backing a battery company that says it’s found a way to store more energy using silicon scrap waste.
Fadell’s investment firm, Future Shape, is among the contributors to Advano’s $18.5 million Series A funding round. It’s Fadell’s first battery investment.
Silicon could be key to building more powerful batteries. The anodes of most existing systems are made with graphite. But silicon can hold far more lithium. The problem is silicon anodes tend to swell and crack. That’s set off a race among companies including Sila Nanotechnologies Inc to figure out how to make them work better. Advano says it has a solution.
“Everyone wants at least some kind of silicon anode in the battery for better density, a better battery and lighter battery packs,” Fadell, who also helped invent the iPhone and was a co-founder of Nest Labs, said in an interview. “Advano has fulfilled the promise.”