Six years on, battery game-changer ‘stands tall’ in LiBEST crisis strategy?

HelloDD Aug 9, 2023

LiBEST builds 1 factory in Daejeon with 4,165m2 –R&D~Mass Production ‘One Stop’
73x investment, 6x employees “Disruptive growth will change the industry”
“Questioning ourselves at every crisis moment, contributing to human science and technology like Musk”

 

8일 리베스트 대전 둔곡 본사 개소식에서 열린 커팅식. (왼쪽부터) 임승규 리베스트 CTO, 김지수 KB증권 부서장, 박찬홍 드림텍 대표, 정영광 에쓰오일 전무, 김주성 리베스트 대표, 이석봉 대전시 경제과학부시장, 최장욱 서울대 교수, 알리코스쿤 스위스 프리부르대 교수, 권오형 퓨처플레이 대표, 하진홍 리베스트 CPO. [사진=리베스트 제공]
Cutting ceremony at the opening ceremony of LiBEST headquarters in Dungok, Daejeon, on the 8th.
(From left to right) Lim Seung-kyu(CTO of LiBEST), Kim Ji-soo(Department head of KB Securities), Park Chan-hong(CEO of Dreamtech), Jung Young-gwang(Vice president of S-Oil), Kim Joo-seong(CEO of LiBEST), Lee Seok-bong(Vice Mayor of Daejeon), Prof.Choi Jang-wook(Seoul National University), Prof.Ali Cos Kun(University of Fribourg, Switzerland), Kwon Oh-hyung(CEO of Futureplay), and Ha Jin-hong(CPO of LiBEST). [Photo courtesy of LiBEST].
“In 2017, we were an early startup with passion and original technology, and now we have grown into a company that can actually realize that passion and technology.
In the next two years, you will see products from global companies with our batteries.”Kim says.
His confidence is backed up by the numbers. The number of employees has grown from 10 to 60, and the amount of investment has increased from 300 million won to 21.8 billion won. That’s in just about six years.
The eight-year-old company has been growing rapidly and steadily. In 2017, the company improved the technology of flexible batteries, which were in the R&D stage, and in April, it built the first factory in Dungok, Daejeon, and realized mass production. It has become a one-stop manufacturing company from R&D to product supply. The company is currently attracting Series C investment to establish a second factory.The completion ceremony for the first factory was held on the 8th of this month. It is its own building with a total land area of 4,165m2 and a gross floor area of 2,866m2. On the first floor, there are 6 process rooms with ancillary facilities. It is total 503 square meters. The second floor consists of R&D research facilities and other facilities. 

◆ Establishment of Daejeon Factory 1, a ‘one-stop shop’ for R&D to mass production

 

리베스트의 리튬 이온 배터리 기술. 리베스트는 CES2020에서 플렉시블 리튬 이온 배터리로, CES2023에서 난연성·부동성 리튬 이온 배터리로 2 번의 혁신상을 수상한 바 있다. [사진=이유진 기자] 
LiBEST’s lithium-ion battery technology. The company has won two innovation awards at CES2020 for its flexible lithium-ion battery and CES2023 for its flame-retardant and anti-freeze lithium-ion battery. [Photo by Yoojin Lee]

 

Since its establishment, LiBEST has focused on flexible lithium-ion batteries. In this case, safety and energy efficiency are key issues, as the batteries need to be used for long periods of time in direct contact with the human body. By focusing on these two, flexible lithium-ion batteries, flame-retardant and anti-freeze batteries, and next-generation batteries have become the company’s main business models.

In the case of flexible lithium-ion batteries, the technology maturity level has already entered the mass production stage. The newly completed factory in Daejeon will manufacture products at a rate of 2.5 units per minute. Marketing is also underway with related industries such as metaverse, AR-VR, and smart wearable devices, centered on the North American market.

Flame-retardant and anti-freeze lithium-ion batteries are battery technologies that do not burn or freeze. Most batteries are either flame-retardant or anti-freeze, but LiBEST has captured both characteristics. By applying flame-retardant- anti-freeze technology to the separator and electrolyte, it is possible to utilize the same materials used in conventional cathode and anode. The temperature range is also wider than that of conventional flame-retardant batteries, so there is no need to change the production process. With patent applications pending, the technology is being applied to fields such as electric two-wheelers and EV-ESS.

Next-generation batteries that apply our technology are currently in the development stage, enabling maximization of energy density and a significant reduction in raw material costs. We are achieving good results through active technology development and plan to increase our technological maturity as quickly as possible.

2023 will be the year of full-scale market entry for LiBEST. Although sales have been increasing, the company expects to see a quantum leap in sales growth with the establishment of the factory, which will allow it to begin full-scale mass production. Furthermore, by 2027, the company aims to take a leap forward as a battery solution company that succeeds the three domestic battery companies. To this end, the company is currently planning to build up to four factories in Korea and is also planning to conduct an initial public offering (IPO).

“Ultimately, we want to become a company that goes beyond simply sharing the pie of the battery market and changes the game of the battery industry through next-generation batteries and contributes to the exponentially increasing future energy demand,” Kim said.

“Some may think it’s difficult to fulfill this dream, but the hardest part is coming up with something that hasn’t been done before. Tesla, Amazon, and Nvidia were all startups and no one could have predicted that they would be where they are today. LiBEST is a game-changer in the battery market, and we will disrupt like never before through disruptive growth.”

 

◆ “There were moments of crisis···we pioneered by asking ourselves questions”

창업 초기 시절의 리베스트. 2016년 KAIST 학생 창업으로 시작했다. 김주성 대표는 아주대를 졸업해 KAIST EEWS(에너지·환경·물·지속가능성) 석·박사과정을 거쳤다. [사진=리베스트 제공]
LiBEST in its early days. It started as a student startup at KAIST in 2016. CEO Joo Seong Kim graduated from Aju University and went through the EEWS (Energy, Environment, Water, and Sustainability) master’s and doctoral programs at KAIST. [Photo courtesy of LiBEST].
“Whenever there’s a crisis, we ask ourselves, ‘What do we need to do to solve the problem, and what choices do we need to make to transform ourselves into an organization that can do that?’ We did that 99% of the time, and then we fought for the 1%, and that’s how we got to where we are today.”
(왼쪽) 리베스트가 처음으로 나간 전시회인 MWC 2018 당시. 직원은 약 10여명에 불과했다. (오른쪽) 현재 리베스트는 약 60명의 직원을 두고 있다. [사진=리베스트 제공] 
(Left) At MWC 2018, the company’s first trade show. There were only about 10 employees. “We didn’t have enough money, so we just put our name on the booth,” Kim recalls.
(Right) Today, LiBEST employs are about 60 people. [Photo courtesy of LiBEST].
There have been some challenging moments along the way, and Kim says he strives to ask the “right questions. He asks himself fundamental questions to find answers and thinks of ways to overcome them. This is the mindset of a scientist. Like a scientist searching for answers in the unknown, he believes that there must be an answer, even if he can’t find it at the moment.  They endured countless failures and took steps toward the answer.”Like an echo, if you ask the right question, the right answer will come back,” Kim said, “I always thought that I might be a poor manager, researcher, or engineer, but I always tried to ask the right question.”He said he still admires Elon Musk as much as he did seven years ago. As a student at the time, Kim said he was impressed by the way Musk was able to take ideas that seemed like pipe dreams and turn them into reality. That’s why he chose to call himself Elon Kim.”Seeing him (Elon Musk) made me dream of contributing to humanity’s science and technology faster,” Kim said. “I will lead the way in advancing battery technology to accelerate the move to the wearable era and beyond.””I have so many people to thank for helping me get to this point. I’ve met so many of you from before the startup to now. Each and every one of them is precious, but among them, I would like to mention meeting my academic father, Prof. Jang Wook Choi. I would like to express my gratitude to everyone.” 

View of LiBEST’s Dungok headquarters in Daejeon. [Photo by Yoojin Lee]

 

[Source: https://www.hellodd.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=101383]

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