When New Dominion Enterprises cofounder Jay Fraser connected with the Academic Partnership Engagement Experiment (APEX) in the fall of 2020, the next-generation battery materials startup was facing five selectable-not-funded SBIR awards and wondering what had gone wrong.
With the assistance of an APEX consultant, New Dominion secured its first Phase I SBIR award just three months later.
To date, the company has secured over $3 million in non-dilutive funding across three Phase II and three Phase I awards from AFWERX and the Department of Energy. Now, Fraser is poised to raise venture capital to bring the company’s novel inorganic liquid electrolyte solvent for lithium batteries fully to market.
“We’d had previous experiences with SBIR consultants, and they were not good experiences,” Fraser said. “But my relationship with APEX has been all positive. Mike [Breslin] has helped me through some staffing issues, management of contract issues, and also helped us analyze the best way to avoid receiving ‘selectable-not-funded’ results on our proposals.”
By commercializing its inorganic liquid electrolyte, New Dominion Enterprises is working to create safer, more durable lithium-ion batteries for a wide variety of applications—from lightweight, wearable batteries for soldiers that replace large, bulky radios to electric race car batteries that can withstand the extreme heat of the track. Additionally, due to its electrochemical properties, New Dominion’s inorganic liquid enables the use of higher-energy electrodes, leading to increased energy density.
The company is building on research cofounder Dr. Mason Harrup conducted at the Idaho National Laboratory to develop an inorganic liquid replacement electrolyte for lithium-ion batteries.
“The conventional electrolyte for a lithium-ion battery is carbon-based, and therefore very flammable and volatile. Take a blowtorch to wood—it burns. But take a blowtorch to rock—it gets hot, but it doesn’t burn,” Fraser explained. “That’s essentially what we have: an inorganic material that replaces the flammable and volatile components and leads to improved performance.”
The replacement electrolyte makes batteries more durable, safer, and could even enable higher energy density, meaning more power packed into less space, Fraser added.
“We’re not there yet—we’re still testing with higher-energy electrodes—but we are seeing test results now from evaluating companies where the durability and safety of the cell are being proven,” he said.
Fraser began his career on Madison Avenue before shifting his expertise in marketing, strategy, and product development to the technology sector. He met Dr. Harrup during the latter’s tenure at the national lab, as Fraser’s previous company worked on a three-year Office of Naval Research-funded effort. When Dr. Harrup left the lab in 2015, he reached out to Fraser, and together they formed New Dominion Enterprises to license the original technology.
Both cofounders had experience pursuing and managing federal funding, and while they knew they had a solution that could benefit the warfighter, they struggled to navigate the Department of Defense’s complex systems and processes.
In mid-2021, after securing its first Phase II contract, New Dominion expanded its management team to include a retired U.S. Air Force officer with program management, contracting, and acquisition experience as Chief Technology Officer, along with an industry consultant. That core team, with input from APEX, successfully led the company to additional contracts.
Enter APEX.
Fraser connected with APEX consultant Mike Breslin after attending a webinar in late 2020. By February 2021, New Dominion had secured its first $50,000 Phase I SBIR to streamline the manufacturing process for its alternative electrolyte. Shortly after, the company parlayed that work into a $743,000 Phase II contract to develop an improved power supply for tactical dismount radios used by airmen on dangerous missions, calling in airstrikes or maneuvering troops.
When that project ran into technical issues, Breslin provided guidance on how to work with the contracting officer to extend the work.
But by Christmas 2022, with that contract nearing completion and no other awards lined up, Fraser worried whether the company would survive.
He needn’t have feared.
By February 2023, New Dominion had landed not one, but two Direct-to-Phase II SBIR awards:
- $965,000 to complete additional work on combat radios
- $1.25 million to develop a conformable, wearable battery—a flexible battery that soldiers can wear in the field
Shortly thereafter, the company secured a new $75,000 Phase I SBIR to optimize the ratio of its inorganic material in lithium-ion batteries. The company’s CTO played a key role in securing these new contracts.
“Mike helped us understand that we needed to do more research on what program officers were looking for and get really specific with program requirements,” Fraser said. “It’s a very hard thing to do—nobody is really publishing program requirements. You have to dig deep and do some interpretation, and that’s also where we got great input from Mike. I can call him, and he’s been very responsive.”
In the first half of 2023, New Dominion nearly doubled its annual revenue compared to 2021 and 2022. It also tripled its employee count. When Fraser first connected with APEX in 2020, the company comprised just the two cofounders; today, its six employees bring decades of experience in the battery industry and Air Force contract management. Fraser is preparing to hire again, pending additional contract awards.
New Dominion is also collaborating with ten companies to test its material for commercial applications, including the R&D arm of a gigafactory, multiple electric car manufacturers, and one of the world’s largest lithium-ion battery suppliers.
“Things are heating up. There’s no question that the investment interest is coming, in part because of our success with the Air Force and the fact that we are a true dual-use technology play,” Fraser said. “We have more credibility now. I never expected the company to grow this fast or big. It has been a lot of hard work on our part, with a lot of good guidance from APEX steering us.”
Following review meetings with APEX and other consultants, New Dominion began working with Vertx Partners to plan and structure a Phase III program leveraging its recently completed Phase II SBIR, in which it delivered advanced batteries for tactical dismount radios to the Air Force.
About APEX
As of October 2024, APEX has helped 600 small businesses compete for SBIR/STTR awards, with 360 winning funding.
APEX cultivates innovation by expanding the American research enterprise for the Department of the Air Force, engaging, connecting, and enabling innovators across academia, industry, and the Department of Defense. APEX provides process navigation services for academic teams and small businesses, leveraging data analytics to identify transformational operational defense solutions. To learn more, visit www.apex-innovates.org.
About New Dominion Enterprises
New Dominion Enterprises Inc. (NDE) is commercializing an inorganic liquid electrolyte solvent to replace a percentage of the organic materials in lithium battery electrolytes, improving thermal performance and chemical stability. Idaho National Laboratory owns the process patent protecting this innovation, and NDE has negotiated an exclusive license to commercialize the material for battery manufacturers. The technology has significant market potential in both defense and commercial applications, with successful testing already conducted through a Department of Defense-sponsored program. NDE is now scaling up production of its precursor material and finished electrolyte solvent, commercially known as Phospholyte®, accelerating its path to market. To learn more, visit www.newdominionenterprises.com.