Philenergy, a secondary battery equipment manufacturer, said on the 26th that it completed a strategic equity investment in the U.S. all-solid-state battery company Factorial.
Philenergy plans to work with Factorial to enhance the technology of next-generation battery processes while also joining the all-solid-state battery supply chain. In addition, with this investment, Philenergy secured the right to supply assembly equipment for Factorial's all-solid-state batteries. Through Philenergy's advanced process technology, Factorial is expected to expand its current pilot-level manufacturing process to mass production.
Founded in 2013, Factorial has received investments from global automakers including Hyundai Motor, Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis, as well as from materials companies such as Lotte Energy Materials and POSCO FUTURE M.
Factorial's core competitiveness is its all-solid-state battery platform "Solstice," which offers high energy density and safety. Compared with conventional lithium-ion batteries, it boosts energy density by up to 80% and operates stably even at high temperatures of up to 90°C.
The all-solid-state battery market that Philenergy is entering is expected to expand not only into next-generation mobility such as electric vehicles and urban air mobility (UAM) but also into the physical artificial intelligence (AI) industry, including humanoids and robots.
Philenergy has recently been diversifying its overseas clientele. This year, it won an order for laser notching and slitting equipment from an Indian battery corporation, and earlier supplied a 46-phi cylindrical battery winder to a European corporation.
More recently, it completed development of notching technology for the cathode active material section, long considered a challenge in the laser notching process, and began supplying the equipment.