A South Korean startup called TOPnC has succeeded in localizing aluminum pouch film, which is currently imported from Japan, and is preparing to establish mass-production facilities. It is set to go through a funding round this year which is the 7th year since the company’s establishment.
TOPnC (President Kim Dong-soo) recently secured a 1,553m2 land in Hwaseong-si and has begun establishing a mass-production structure for aluminum pouch film.
The company recently received $173,000 (200 million KRW) from Vessel, which specializes in roll equipment, and is also in the final stage of a $1.73 million (2 billion KRW) seed investment. It plans to go through a $17.3 million (20 billion KRW) Series A funding round in the first half next year. A major South Korean company is currently discussing with TOPnC regarding participating as a strategic investor (SI).
It is set to go through a funding round on full-scale starting from this year as its product has reached a level of commercialization and it has also secured a certain amount of orders. It was established in 2014 as a joint research venture by industries, universities, and research institutes and it has only focused on research and development (R&D) for seven years.
TOPnC has successfully localized aluminum pouch film that is currently imported from Japan for rechargeable batteries that are used for electric vehicles and mobile devices. It developed high precision roll-to-roll gravure aluminum pouch film equipment and successfully developed aluminum pouch film with high reliability.
It already verified performance of its aluminum pouch film through five South Korean companies, two government-funded research institutes, and six battery manufacturers that include a Chinese company. After going through verifications, it recently received a $6.92 million (8 billion KRW) order from the Chinese company.
Aside from these verifications, it also secured a certification from the Printed Electronics Technical Support Center which proved that its aluminum pouch film is at a same level as aluminum pouch film manufactured by DNP that is the world’s top aluminum pouch film manufacturer based in Japan.
It also applied for five patents and registered 18 patents in South Korea and applied for two patents overseas.
President Kim is an expert in the printed electronics field who had worked at the Korea Institute of Machinery & Materials for more than 20 years.
“Although it only took about a year to develop small pouch film used for mobile devices, it took us about four years to develop aluminum pouch film used for electric vehicles and to raise the performance to a level of DNP’s product.” said President Kim. “Our aluminum pouch film’s pressure resisting quality, formability, and electrolytic fluidity are considered world’s best or world-class level.” President Kim also emphasized that the company will be able to easily make $17.3 million in revenue from three to four battery manufacturers once it establishes a mass-production structure by the end of the first half next year and that the company will look to enter other foreign markets as well.
Meanwhile, TOPnC is also one of 60 candidates for “Materials, Component and Equipment Startup 100” that the Ministry of SMEs and Startups is promoting.
Staff Reporter Sung, Hyeonhee | sunghh@etnews.com