Dry-process additive manufacturing platform company CEO and founder Robert Bagheri also assumes role of executive chairman

Sakuu® (www.sakuu.com), a leading provider of commercial-scale equipment and technologies to the battery and supercapacitor manufacturing industries, has appointed Arwed Niestroj (LinkedIn) to the position of president and chief operating officer (COO). Niestroj has held multiple leadership positions within Sakuu since joining the company six years ago, most recently serving as chief product officer.

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Arwed Niestroj, who joined Sakuu in 2019, has assumed the position of president and chief operating officer.

“There’s no one I’d rather see fill the role of president and COO of Sakuu at this critical stage in company maturity than Arwed,” said Robert Bagheri (LinkedIn), Sakuu founder and CEO, who was recently elevated to the role of executive chairman of the board of directors. “This is a logical next step as we seek to more rapidly commercialize and operationalize our platforms.”

The award-winning Sakuu Kavian® Manufacturing Platform prints electrodes using dry process, a breakthrough innovation that addresses key challenges in scalability, sustainability, safety, and performance, while still reducing cost and enabling manufacturers to regionalize production. Not only is Kavian the world’s first additive manufacturing solution to dry-print battery electrodes, it also dry-prints supercapacitor electrodes to meet the unique power needs of AI data centers.

“I’m truly excited about taking the operational helm at this stage of Sakuu’s growth, where we’ve transitioned Kavian out of the lab into the marketplace,” Arwed Niestroj said. “The time is ripe for the team to leverage our vast automotive and semiconductor experience to accelerate delivery of a mature, advanced manufacturing solution. The market needs rapid advances in cost and innovation for regionalizing manufacturing, which Sakuu is uniquely qualified to make happen.”

A career on the fast track

Arwed Niestroj has served in several roles since joining Sakuu in 2019, including general manager of the battery business unit, senior vice president of e-mobility and product, and chief product officer. He has an impressive history of leadership and innovation in the technology, automotive, and manufacturing sectors. After earning a master’s degree in technical and nuclear physics at the Technical University of Munich, Arwed was drawn to the automotive industry, initially at Mercedes-Benz Group, where he spearheaded transformative projects in research and development and manufacturing planning. His journey continued at Daimler with pivotal roles in electrification strategy, electric vehicle development, and global hydrogen infrastructure deployment, and service as CEO of Mercedes-Benz R&D North America. He subsequently led the global innovation hubs and digital transformation efforts at ZF Friedrichshafen AG, where he also served as an automotive startup advisory board chairman.

The advantages of Kavian

The Sakuu Kavian platform currently dry prints electrodes in NCM, NCA, LFP, graphite, and silicon-graphite chemistries; its flexibility also enables new chemistries such as aluminum-ion or sodium-ion. Compared to traditional wet-coated electrode manufacturing, Kavian’s dry process production meets or exceeds standard performance and quality while also supplying benefits in sustainability, cost-savings and efficiency. These include:

• 100% elimination of toxic solvents and water
• 60% smaller footprint for manufacturing floor space
• 56% savings in utility operating costs
• 55% reduction of CO2 emissions
• 20% reduction in capital equipment costs

These benefits also apply to supercapacitor manufacturing.

Sakuu is working on fulfilling the first orders for Kavian and has already delivered hundreds of meters of high-quality dry electrode to customers. Contact the Sakuu team to request more details or visit booth 3752 at The Battery Show in Detroit from October 6-9.

About Sakuu

Sakuu® is a leading provider of commercial-scale printing equipment and technologies to manufacturers producing batteries, electrodes, supercapacitors, and more. Its Kavian® Platform is the world's first manufacturing platform for dry printing battery electrodes, enabling rapid manufacturing innovation while reducing waste and avoiding toxins. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, the Sakuu team is transforming manufacturing to power a more sustainable future. As a result, Sakuu was crowned FII8 Innovator 2024 at the Future Investment Initiative Conference and Kavian was named a Fast Company World Changing Idea of 2025 and a TIME Best Invention of 2024. Discover more at www.sakuu.com.

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“I’m truly excited about taking the operational helm at this stage of Sakuu’s growth, where we’ve transitioned Kavian out of the lab into the marketplace.” – Arwed Niestroj, president and COO, Sakuu