POSCO Future M is investing in Factorial, a U.S.-based solid-state battery company, to secure a leading position in the future battery market.
POSCO Future M announced that it signed an investment agreement with Factorial on January 7 and completed the investment payment on Monday. This move further strengthens the collaborative relationship between the two companies, following their memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed last November for solid-state battery technology development.
Through this investment, POSCO Future M aims to prepare for the explosive growth anticipated in the solid-state battery market. Factorial, in turn, plans to secure a stable supply of high-quality solid-state battery materials and enhance its battery manufacturing competitiveness.
Hong Young-jun, head of POSCO Future M’s research institute, stated that the companies have been advancing material technologies through a continuous and close partnership. This enhanced collaboration will enable to secure a unique competitive edge as the solid-state battery market emerges.
Factorial, a Massachusetts-based leader in the solid-state battery industry, is pursuing a U.S. stock market listing. The company is also ramping up operations in South Korea, running a pilot plant for solid-state batteries in Cheonan, Chungnam.
Factorial’s solid-state battery platform, Solstice, is renowned for its exceptional energy density and safety. Leveraging its cutting-edge technology, the company has forged partnerships with major automakers across Korea, Europe, and North America. The synergy between Factorial’s extensive network and POSCO Future M’s material expertise is expected to yield significant benefits in their future collaborations.
Solid-state batteries, which replace traditional liquid electrolytes with solid ones, are hailed as a potential game-changer in the battery market due to their superior energy density and safety. POSCO Future M has been conducting sample tests of cathode materials for solid-state batteries with Factorial, with its materials receiving high marks for quality, particularly in output characteristics.
The solid-state battery materials under development by POSCO Future M are expected to find widespread applications in next-generation mobility, including autonomous electric vehicles (EVs) and urban air mobility (UAM), as well as in the burgeoning physical AI market, encompassing humanoids and robotics.
Global market research firm Statista projects that the physical artificial intelligene (AI) market will grow from 5 billion USD in 2020 to 64.3 billion USD by 2030, with an impressive average annual growth rate of 23.3%. Even more strikingly, Morgan Stanley predicts the global humanoid market will reach a staggering 5 trillion USD by 2050, more than six times the size of the 2025 semiconductor market.
POSCO Future M has developed material design and coating technologies specifically optimized for solid-state batteries. At the group level, the company is continuously expanding its portfolio of solid-state battery materials, including sulfide-based solid electrolytes and high-capacity silicon and lithium-metal anodes.
