A Startup Technology Contest in Battery Field
LG Chem will further strengthen its competitiveness in future battery technology with open innovation.
LG Chem announced on April 11 that it held the Battery Challenge, a global startup technology contest in the battery field, and selected five companies as final winners.
The competition started last August with the reception of application documents. A total of 129 startups from 27 countries participated in it, with the competition rate recording 26 to 1. On April 10, Pitch Day (technology and business strategy presentations) was held at the Magok LG Science Park in Seoul with the participation of seven finalists.
The company said that it finally selected five startups (four from the United States and one from the United Kingdom), based on the innovativeness and future commercial potential of their technologies. LG Chem will give these startups joint research opportunities in the future and make equity investment up to US$2 million per company.
Moreover, the company added that it was planning to continue to cooperate on technology evaluation and investment when necessary with the 124 startups not included in the final selection list.
"The startups that participated in Pitch Day showed off next-generation technologies such as lithium metal batteries and new solutions that can enhance battery performance," an LG Chem official said. "Some companies came up with ideas based on the application of such technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution as big data, AI, and machine learning to battery development."
In the meantime, in order to secure innovative technology for the battery business, LG Chem held the Battery Innovation Contest (BIC) for academia and research institutes in 2017 and expanded it into the Global Innovation Contest (GIC) last year.