Chris Burns

Battery Materials Expert | Founder & Executive | CEO, Dryve Battery Materials | Former CEO, NOVONIX | Ex-Tesla

📍 Canada🔄 Updated September 2026💼 2 investments📅 2 years investing🗓 Last invested May 2025
VC🌍 Canada
2
Total investments
0
Early stage
0
Mid stage
0
Late stage
2y
Years active

Portfolio

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Board Member
Mar 2024
The Accelerate Alliance brings together industries, governments, researchers, advocates and others relevant to manufacturing ZEV and ZEV parts across Canada. The aim of the Alliance is to encourage these key players—from mining to mobility, from R&D to commercialization, and from vehicle assembly to charging infrastructure—to collaborate, strategize, and advocate for policies that accelerate the development of the ZEV supply chain in Canada. -- LAlliance Accélérer rassemble des industries, des gouvernements, des chercheurs, des promoteurs et dautres acteurs concernés par la fabrication de véhicules et de pièces VZE au Canada. Lobjectif de lAlliance est dencourager ces acteurs clés - de lexploitation minière à la mobilité, de la R&D à la commercialisation, et de lassemblage des véhicules à linfrastructure de recharge - à collaborer, à élaborer des stratégies et à défendre des politiques qui accélèrent le développement de la chaîne dapprovisionnement des VZE au Canada.
Experience · 7 entries
All (7)
Investments (2)
Founder (4)
Board (1)
2026
Owner
May 2026
At Avrion Labs, collaboration is central to our identity. We specialize in battery cell prototyping and testing, providing a critical bridge between early-stage innovation and scalable commercialization. We partner with innovators who are pushing the boundaries of energy storage - startups, researchers, and established companies alike - helping them turn bold ideas into reliable, test-proven battery solutions.
Founder and CEO
May 2026
Dryve Battery Materials is commercializing a patented, dry, pCAM-free synthesis platform for lithium-ion cathode materials, enabling a more efficient, lower-cost, and scalable approach to cathode manufacturing. Validated at 100 tonnes per annum (tpa) pilot scale in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Dryve is built for industrial deployment and global partnership.
2025
Associate Mentor | CDL - Atlantic
Aug 2025
Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) is a nonprofit organization that delivers an objectives-based program for massively scalable, seed-stage, science- and technology-based companies. The nine-month program employs an objectives-based mentoring process to enhance the performance of technical founders who learn from the insights of experienced entrepreneurs, with the goal of maximizing equity-value creation. Founded by Professor Ajay Agrawal in 2012 at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, the program has expanded and now has 11 sites across six countries: Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal, Halifax, Paris, Madison, Seattle, Estonia, Berlin, and Melbourne. The program combines 5 elements to help companies transition from science projects to scalable and financeable companies: - An emphasis on objective-setting, helping companies focus on what’s most important to their business - Focused mentorship from experienced entrepreneurs who have founded, led, and sold significant tech companies - Technical advice from world-leading scientists, engineers, and economists - Hands-on support from top business students, who embed within the company to provide business support - Opportunities to raise capital, including angels and VCs from Europe and North America The successful commercialization of cutting-edge science and technology achieved through the program has led to the creation of over CAD $35 billion in equity value.
Angel Investor
May 2025
Chemical Angels is a network of accredited investors. We invest our own capital into Chemistry enabled companies. Please see the Chemical Angels Network (LinkedIn Group) for interactive discussions and announcements. We serve the investor and the entrepreneur by presenting quality investment opportunities to qualified investors. Our mission is to provide financial capital and experienced mentorship to early stage chemical companies. Companies can submit applications for funding and investors can apply for membership at www.ChemicalAngels.com
Co-Founder, Strategic Advisor
Jan 2025
NOVONIX is a leading battery technology company revolutionizing the global lithium-ion battery industry with innovative, sustainable technologies, high-performance materials, and more efficient production methods. The Company manufactures industry-leading battery cell testing equipment, is growing its high-performance synthetic graphite material manufacturing operations, and has developed a patented all-dry, zero-waste cathode synthesis process. Through advanced R&D capabilities, proprietary technology, and strategic partnerships, NOVONIX has gained a prominent position in the electric vehicle and energy storage systems battery industry and is powering a cleaner energy future. To learn more, visit us at www.novonixgroup.com or on X. Interested in learning more about NOVONIX UHPC and our research and development services to help accelerate your battery research? Contact sales@novonixgroup.com. Investors: ir@novonixgroup.com Media: media@novonixgroup.com
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