By Katie Liu | July 18, 2025
Indiana-based startup focuses on developing lithium-sulfur batteries for drone and defense
applications
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More than 60 years since the first concept of lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries sprang to light, Indiana-based startup Valgotech is gearing up to lead the clean energy transition with its own lightweight, eco-friendly Li-S cells.
Valgotech is one of seven companies participating in the second cohort of the ChargeUp Accelerator, the nation’s first and only accelerator program exclusively focusing on batteries and energy storage. Incorporated in 2018, the company specializes in developing advanced lithium-sulfur batteries that, compared to traditional cells, are lighter and can function at temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius.
Using readily available materials and processes, Valgotech continually innovates on the research and development of the years prior to usher in a cleaner future.
“Many people worked on [lithium-sulfur research] and abandoned it, yes, but you build on the knowledge. People work on it for 10, 15, 20, 30 years, and lots of knowledge has accumulated. There’s lots of understanding of what the problems are,” said CEO David Olawale. “We are coming in 30 years later, and we are focusing on addressing those problems that they’ve identified.”
Lithium-sulfur batteries hold many potential benefits, particularly for their applications in the defense sector due to their increased energy density and lighter weight. Without needing to lug along a burdensome battery pack, Olawale said, drones and pilots alike can spend more time in the air — and more easily. Moreover, using sulfur instead of conventional materials like nickel, cobalt or copper allows Valgotech to keep its production inside the U.S., providing greater security and independence for American supply chains.
“It’s very, very important for people to know that we are doing great work in the United States,” Olawale said. “This work is very important because it can reduce our dependence on foreign battery cells and materials.”
What distinguishes Valgotech from other companies focusing on the same chemistry is not only its insistence on establishing a more resilient U.S.-based supply chain, but also its holistic approach to manufacturing. Olawale describes what he calls the company’s “superior SPAS” product development methodology, meaning Valgotech utilizes materials and processes that are superior in safety, performance, affordability and sustainability. This might look like eliminating NMP to create a greener battery, while reducing the need for dry rooms to coat electrodes — which can quickly rack up production costs.
Supported by organizations such as the National Science Foundation, U.S. Air Force and Space Force, Elevate Ventures, Indiana Economic Development Corporation and the Applied Research Institute, Valgotech is committed to building better batteries in the most environmentally friendly and cost-effective manner — from material selection to final testing.
“We can get contracts and we can get grants, but it’s very, very important for us to create superior value,” he said. “If you give me $5, I must be able to create value for you that is worth maybe $10 or $12. But if you give me $5 and the value I’m giving you is $3, it’s just a matter of time before the business fails — we are in the business of superior value creation.”
A calling for entrepreneurship
If Olawale is in the business of value creation, that’s embedded in Valgotech’s very name: an abridged combination of “value” and “global impact,” using “technology.” But Olawale readily credits his wife and company co-founder Martha Olawale for penning that name.
“The name of the company also came from her, because she has a master in strategic communication. I’m a scientist and engineer; I think the way we think is different,” he said, before joking, “So the first name that I suggested was rubbish.”
Together, they identified batteries as a space to enter, before settling on lithium-sulfur, a chemistry ripe with challenges and creative potential. But before jumping into the startup world, Olawale was an academic first, teaching students the principles of engineering and entrepreneurship at the University of Indianapolis. He was previously an adjunct professor at the Florida A&M University-Florida State University College of Engineering.
His work as a professor fed naturally and equally into his passion for entrepreneurship. “I’ve always had the flare and calling for entrepreneurship,” Olawale said. “Even when I was doing my doctorate, I started taking classes in commercialization. Then, based on my doctoral work, I actually stayed behind after completing my doctorate to create my first tech startup.” As an industrial and manufacturing engineer, he has done everything from developing sensor systems for bridges to leading a team through the NSF I-CORPS program to improve wind turbine function.
His time in the I-CORPS program introduced him to the growing field of clean energy, sparking a particular interest in both developing energy storage technologies and seeing them through to hit market shelves.
“There’s a big gap between the research that’s being done at universities and commercialization, so that’s one of the reasons I was more attracted to filling that gap — not just being like every other professor that’s all about research and putting things into papers,” Olawale said. “I really want to create products that can really impact lives.”
A blessing in ChargeUp
Now almost halfway through the ChargeUp program, Valgotech has been busy at work preparing to scale up manufacturing while learning the ropes of marketing. “[ChargeUp] has provided us with the training, tools, mentors and resources that we need. Not only that, but they’ve also been guiding us in the area of sales: How do you market? How do you communicate? How do you contact customers and stakeholders and build a relationship up
to the point of closing?” Olawale said. “That is really priceless, especially for tech startups. We are engineers and scientists. We are very good in that area — but what about these other critically important areas for successful product development and commercialization?”
Though located in Indiana, Olawale is also eyeing upstate New York as a potential place to expand his company, for its ecosystem of resources and support. Moreover, Valgotech is also landing potential collaborations with fellow cohort members.
“There’s nothing stopping us from working with the research labs at RIT and Binghamton University, and now we talked about working with LiBama,” Olawale said. “There are a lot of ways to be able to collaborate and share resources and apply for contracts.”
At the moment, Valgotech has just completed cell testing, with plans to continue refining its technology so it provides even more energy and functions at frigid temperatures — the latter of which is still a pain point for many types of battery chemistries.
By the end of the year, Olawale adds, the company is planning to move into pilot manufacturing. The journey of this innovation has never been easy, but Olawale’s optimism ushers in successes and smooths over setbacks alike.
“In R&D and product development, working with new technology, failure is part of the process. That failure actually creates a moat around that technology,” he said. “That means the technology or solution is not something that anybody can just buy materials and make. If anybody can just buy materials and make it, you’ve just been wasting your time and money doing that. So these challenges — they’re actually great.”
For these efforts, Valgotech has produced cells that are cheaper, lighter and last longer, reducing the risk of conventional issues like thermal runaway. And using both his own faith and longtime fire for entrepreneurship, Olawale rides this rocky enterprise with gusto.
“We take another three steps toward our goal. But most of the time, people just want to jump from one to 100. It doesn’t happen like that,” he said. “Though we’re going to 100, we’ve gotten to three. From three, we can get to five. We celebrate every progress we make and try to test,
learn and iterate faster to increase our speed of getting to our desired goal.”