The new factory of flexible secondary battery startup LiBEST has opened.
The company aims to become a deep-tech unicorn by customizing various types of secondary batteries that do bend or do not catch fire.
The company held an opening ceremony for its Dungok headquarters in Yuseong-gu, Daejeon on the 8th.
The company previously completed a new factory with automated production facilities for flexible secondary batteries and moved its headquarters to the factory site.
More than 60 people from industry, academia, and research attended the opening ceremony, including Daejeon Mayor Lee Jang-woo, LiBEST CEO Kim Joo-seong, S-Oil Executive Director Jeong Young-kwang, Seoul National University Professor Choi Jang-wook, and Futureplay CEO Kwon Oh-hyung.
LiBEST is a secondary battery startup that was spun off from KAIST in 2016.
It has developed a flexible lithium-ion battery that can be flexible and bendable, making it suitable for wearable devices such as smartwatches and smart rings.
Earlier this year, the company won an innovation award at CES 2023 for its flame-retardant and anti-freezing battery that does not burn easily and does not freeze.
In May, the company was selected as a representative company in the eco-friendly and energy sector of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups’ Super Gap Startup 1000+ Project.
It will receive a total of 1.1 billion won in R&D and commercialization funds over three years.
At its new plant in Dungok, LiBEST plans to become a leader in ultra-high-density secondary batteries.
The company will mass-produce flexible batteries in the fourth quarter.
The company plans to expand its current production capacity of 25,000 flexible batteries per month to 100,000 this year and 200,000 next year.
The company’s ambition is to create demand in the existing secondary battery market for electric vehicles and to establish a concrete roadmap including affordability, safety, and energy density to become a solution company that connects the three major domestic battery companies.
“We are operating equipment for each electrode, chemistry, and activation process to increase yields,” said Kim Joo-seong, CEO of LiBEST.
“We will grow into a flexible battery company sought after by global big tech companies using automated production lines.”
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[Source: https://www.etnews.com/20230808000223]
