Item 1. Business
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Overview and Market Opportunities
KULR Technology Group, Inc., through our wholly owned subsidiary KULR Technology Corporation, develops and commercializes an energy management platform to accelerate the global transition to a sustainable electrification economy. This energy management platform consists of high-performance thermal management technologies for batteries and electronics, AI-powered battery management and vibration mitigation software solutions, and reusable energy storage modules. Our mission is advance and apply these technologies to make our world more sustainable by using less energy; using energy more efficiently; making energy consumption safer and cooler; using less materials to achieve these goals; and completing the circular economy through recycling.
Active government initiatives propelled by industry and regulatory tailwinds are increasing demand for energy storage, battery recycling and clean energy, resulting in an expanding total addressable market for KULR’s solutions. According to Precedence Research, global energy storage systems market is to grow from $210B in 2021 to $435B by 3030. Global lithium-ion battery recycling industry is to grow from $4.6B in 2021 to $22.8B by 2030, according to Market and Markets Research. The Company’s disruptive technologies strive to fulfill an addressable $24 billion thermal management systems market (estimated based on market data projections published by Converged Markets stating that the thermal management systems market size was projected to grow from $11.1 billion in 2017 to $24.8 billion by 2025. The Company’s integrated design approach offers comprehensive solutions in thermal interface materials, lightweight heat exchangers, and protection against lithium-ion battery thermal runaway propagation. Its high-performance solutions can be designed to fit demanding configurations and applications.
As companies and governments around the world pledge to meet net zero emissions over the next few decades, KULR is uniquely positioned to accelerate the adoption of clean energy solutions and sustainable products and facilitate the migration to a global circular economy. The Company’s goal is to provide total battery safety solutions for more efficient battery systems, increased sustainability, and end-of-life battery management, making KULR a key technology solutions provider in the migration to a global circular economy.
KULR ONE and KULR ONE Design Solutions (K1DS)
The KULR ONE family of battery packs represent a groundbreaking innovation that is driving the world's transition to a more sustainable electrification economy. These revolutionary designs offer a unique combination of cutting-edge features, including unparalleled safety, exceptional performance, intelligent functionality, modular construction, reliability, and customizability. The KULR ONE battery packs have been engineered to meet the exacting demands of the world's most demanding applications. They offer a comprehensive solution that addresses the critical need for safe and reliable energy storage in a wide range of industries, from aerospace and defense to electric vehicles and consumer electronics. One of the key features of the KULR ONE family of battery packs is its modular design. This allows for greater flexibility as customers can easily adjust the size and configuration of the battery pack to suit their specific application requirements. The intelligent functionality of the KULR ONE packs also allows for real-time monitoring and optimization of battery performance, ensuring optimal efficiency and longevity. In addition to offering exceptional performance and reliability, the KULR ONE battery packs are also designed with safety as a top priority. They incorporate state-of-the-art thermal management technology to prevent overheating and ensure safe operation even in the most challenging environments. Overall, the KULR ONE family of battery packs is at the forefront of the global drive towards sustainable electrification. With its unparalleled combination of safety, performance, intelligence, modularity, reliability, and customizability, KULR ONE is positioned to revolutionize the way we think about energy storage and powering the world's most demanding applications.
3
Table of Contents
K1DS offers a comprehensive approach to designing safe and reliable battery solutions for a wide range of applications. Our services start with the quality and reliable cell supply from North American sources to ensure that our customers receive high-performing and long-lasting batteries. To ensure the performance and safety of our batteries, we have various cell testing capabilities, including cell screening to NASA 37A. We also conduct extensive cell testing to ensure that our batteries meet the highest standards for safety and reliability. Our Multiphysics modeling capabilities, which include the use of GTC Suite software, enable us to optimize battery performance and minimize the risk of failure. Our battery design services focus on designing custom solutions that meet our customers' specific needs. We conduct rigorous testing of those battery packs to ensure reliability and safety, including systems-level testing that helps customers understand the safety and reliability of their applications. Additionally, we provide real-time monitoring of their batteries to ensure battery health and safety in the field, minimizing the risk of failure and prolonging battery life. In summary, KULR ONE design services offer a comprehensive approach to battery design and testing, ensuring that our customers receive high-performing and safe battery solutions that meet their unique needs. We strive to be the go-to provider for reliable and innovative battery solutions that accelerate the global transition to a sustainable electrification economy.
KULR VIBE Solution
During 2022, we acquired intellectual property from Vibetech International, LLC (“Vibetech”), which allows KULR to expand itself as a vertically integrated energy management company focused on sustainable energy solutions. For nearly twenty years, the
4
Table of Contents
primary application has been aviation. However, advances in measurement and computing technologies have allowed KULR VIBE to provide transformative and scalable solutions across transportation, renewable energy (wind farm), manufacturing, industrial, performance racing and autonomous aerial (drone) applications among others. KULR VIBE addresses one of the most challenging issues with advanced machinery today; excessive energy robbing vibrations that are destructive to both the machinery and in many cases the operator. The KULR VIBE suite of technologies utilize proprietary sensor processes with advanced learning algorithms to both achieve precision balancing solutions, and successfully predict component failure based on its comprehensive database of vibration signatures. Its enhanced AI learning algorithms pinpoint areas where excess vibrations cause a loss of energy that can lead to system malfunctions, weakened performance, and maintenance issues.
This innovative technology can be utilized as a standalone solution or be paired with existing track and balance technology to facilitate vibration reduction, achieve increased energy production, and reduce mechanical failures thereby extending platform life. KULR VIBE recently balanced the motors and blades of a mission critical drone to demonstrate the benefits of the technology. The results were a 23% increase in battery life and a lift increase of 45%. Same motors, same blades, KULR VIBE optimized.
The KULR VIBE suite of products and services have provided vibration analysis and mitigation to global companies across multiple industries and sectors. According to Fact.MR, an insights-driven global market intelligence company, the global vibration motor market is estimated at $6.5 billion in 2022 and is forecast to reach $24.1 billion by 2032, growing at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (“CAGR”) of 14.1% during 2022-2032.
The Future is Energy + AI
We believe the future of KULR is Energy + AI. We are building our AI infrastructure on industry leading Nvidia and AMD semiconductor platforms, and they are hosted on a hybrid of private cloud and Microsoft Azure. As the world faces shortages in supply of raw materials to produce enough Li-ion batteries to power everything from EV’s to smartphones, KULR is developing a modular battery storage architecture that can be used across multiple applications with real-time monitoring by AI-powered CellCheck. This product is to target the following markets:
●
Aerospace and defense systems, such as CubeSat batteries meeting JSC 20793 safety requirements by NASA
●
Power tools and industrial equipment
●
High-performance electric vehicles
●
Electric vertical take-off and landing (“eVOTL”)
●
Electric micro-mobility vehicles
●
Residential and commercial energy storage systems
Through our partnership with MoliCel, KULR has access to best-in-class Li-ion battery cells with high power and energy to build battery modules with the highest safety ratings. As part of the strategic relationship, KULR has access to over 700MWh of battery energy capacity to further accelerate its production and supply chain localization initiatives within North America. Securing this MoliCel battery cell supply accelerates our ability to provide total solutions to high value customer applications with revenue potential that could exceed $350 million annually in five years.
Energy Storage
Lithium-ion batteries are the dominant technology on the market for energy storage because of their cost and availability but do carry well documented safety risks. While rare, cell to cell thermal runaway in lithium-ion batteries can cause a fire or explosion. For example, an explosion at Arizona Public Service’s McMicken battery plant injured four emergency responders in 2019 and overheating caused the 1.2 GWh Moss Landing storage facility in California to go off-line. To reach net zero by mid-century will require an additional 245 GWh of battery capacity each year until 2030, but incidents of the like distill trust in battery technologies and threaten to slow the pace which is needed to achieve decarbonization goals. KULR’s passive propagation resistant (PPR) and thermal runaway shield (TRS) technologies prevent cell to cell thermal runaway propagation and inhibit fire and ejecta of a single cell from exiting the battery enclosure, making battery energy storage packs safe for homes, hospitals, schools, and universities, and more. KULR is partnering with leaders in the energy storage industry such as Volta Energy Products, the subsidiary of Buffalo NY based parent company, Viridi Parente, to increase deployments of safe, reliable, and durable energy storage safety systems to accelerate the broader energy transition.
5
Table of Contents
Battery Recycling and Management
KULR-Tech Safe Case provides a safe and cost-effective solution to commercially store and transport lithium batteries, which is increasing in frequency as supply chain challenges and ESG commitments necessitate battery recycling and end-of-lifecycle management. Whether shipping a single battery, a battery-powered device or a load shipment of batteries, KULR’s technology mitigates the impacts of cell-to-cell thermal runaway propagation and ensures a safe journey. KULR’s Thermal Runaway Shield (TRS) technology is trusted by NASA to ship and store astronauts’ laptop batteries on the International Space Station. In addition, KULR combines its Passive Propagation Resistant (PPR) solutions with its new CellCheck intelligent battery management system to extend battery life. The CellCheck modular battery management system platform is KULR’s AI-powered battery safety technology for e-mobility, energy storage and fleet applications. It captures real time and lifetime battery intelligence, sensing adverse electrical, environmental, and physical events to analyze and control for maximum battery safety, reliability, and performance. As commercial industries across the board face greater scrutiny to comply with ESG standards, KULR is serving a total addressable market for a circular economic model for batteries that will reach over $21 billion by 2025 (estimated based on market data projections published by Grand View Research, Inc. stating that the global battery recycling market size is expected to reach $21.04 billion by 2025).
E-mobility
KULR is supporting the shift to electrified transport by enabling safer, lighter, and faster charging lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and micro mobility solutions. KULR’s passive propagation resistant (PPR) battery pack solutions increase battery energy capacity while preventing thermal runaway events that can lead to hazardous explosions, helping the transportation industry to address growing public safety concerns around electric vehicles, electric aviation and micro-mobility markets.
Vehicle technology advancements and EV range anxiety requires more battery capacity to expand the range and power of existing platforms while adding new, power-demanding components for advances such as 5G data networks. The additional strain on batteries increases the risk for overheating and serious failures and can damage sensitive chip architecture. In addition, overheating has been a key limiting factor for advancing fast charging battery technology. KULR’s carbon fiber thermal management technologies reduce the thermal resistance inside battery cells while increasing electrical conductivity to dissipate heat more efficiently to enable the safe deployment of fast charging batteries. With KULR, automotive OEMs and battery manufacturers can increase the energy capacity of battery cells so less cells are needed, making for lighter vehicles that drive further before needing to be charged.
Aerospace/Defense
KULR’s thermal management solutions enable the defense and aerospace industries to safely deploy electronic technologies that support critical missions and protect national security. Technology in this sector is developing at increasing rates - the space industry alone will be worth nearly $3 trillion in 30 years. The electronic devices being placed into aircrafts, satellites, and missiles are becoming ever smaller and more powerful. Lithium-ion batteries, which are already prone to overheating and propagation, are exposed to harsh thermal environments as well as shock and vibration during aerospace and defense operations. The Company has partnered with Lockheed Martin, Leidos and other prime contractors to develop and supply mission-critical technologies for hypersonic vehicles, high-power magnetic wave, and other defense systems.
High-Powered Computing & 5G
Demand for improved, cost-effective cooling solutions in the rapidly growing 5G and cloud computing industries is ever-increasing. KULR’s portfolio of thermal management solutions target air and liquid-cooling of high-performance computing applications such as crypto mining, cloud computing, AI, and AR/VR simulations to maximize performance, energy efficiency and safety. KULR’s proprietary carbon fiber-based suite of thermal interface materials leverage advanced carbon fiber based heatsink technology that offers customers highly customizable, lightweight, and cost-effective solutions with industrial-level reliability due to their high thermal conductivity, lightweight, and low contact pressure.
New Battery Cell Development
KULR started a research and development initiative using carbon fiber structures to produce battery cells with higher energy density and faster charging capabilities. Fast-charging will be the killer app for next-gen batteries. Right now, overheating is a key limiting factor in advancing fast-charging battery technology. There may be a way to solve that problem by using carbon fiber inside the battery cell to reduce thermal and electrical resistance which can dissipate heat more effectively. The R&D initiatives include thicker cathode with higher loading factor, silicon anode, lithium metal anode and solid-state electrolyte development. This is a long-term strategic development for KULR.
6
Table of Contents
Commercial Partnerships
KULR has a long-term technology and developmental partnership with Andretti Technologies (ATEC), the advanced technology arm of racing team Andretti Autosport. The alliance will establish a thermal management testing and design platform for high-performance battery solutions with the highest safety ratings that will be adapted to the technical requirements of Andretti’s racing enterprise with the goal of transferring solutions to mass-market electric vehicle (EV) applications.
New Facility and IT-Systems
KULR relocated in October 2021 to a new facility located at 4863 Shawline St, San Diego, CA. The facility is 3 times larger than the previous facility with adequate room to support our new automated battery cell testing capability that will launch in Q123 as well as personnel growth. Additionally, we installed independently enclosed areas to support the machine shop, testing lab, battery lab, and Fiber Thermal Interface Material (“FTI”) manufacturing lab. We have implemented a 5S standard for the entire facility and received ISO 9001 certification in July 2022.
KULR opened a new facility in January 2023 at 1692 N. Texas Avenue, Webster, TX. This facility provides 4800 ft2 space in an industrial complex where KULR will focus on research and development related activities for lithium-ion battery systems. This space will provide room for additional personnel office space, an engineering design and prototyping sandbox, a 3D printing room, an electrical room for tab welding operations, and a small warehouse for storage. Once fully operational, activities will be completed to have the new location included in KULR’s existing ISO 9001 certification.
KULR TRS (Thermal Runaway Shield) Manufacturing: KULR will be onboarding a fully automated TRS manufacturing system in our Texas facility in early Q323. The intent of this system is to further onshore the manufacturing of TRS thereby reducing supply chain risks, costs, and improve LT performance for our customers. This is another example of KULR nearshoring/onshoring our manufacturing of products to gain further direct control of manufacturing. By developing automated systems, we are capable of being very competitive, and in certain cases, more competitive than offshore manufacturing we considering total cost of ownership.
KULR has engaged with Managed Solutions to enhance our IT infrastructure and improve all aspects of Cybersecurity. As a sub-contractor for DOD programs, it is vital that KULR have state of the art IT systems and controls. We believe the best path based on the current scale of the company is to outsource this activity to a professional IT services organization. The result of this activity was an improvement of our NIST score of over 140 points. Additionally, KULR has further increased its Cybersecurity initiatives by hiring FRSecure to act as a VCISO and provide continuous cyber threat training to our personnel. They also will audit our current level of threat sophistication and ensure any weak link is addressed immediately.
Corporate
KULR was incorporated in the State of Delaware in December 2015 and was formerly known as “KT High-Tech Marketing, Inc.” and, prior to that, as “Grant Hill Acquisition Corporation.” In April 2016, KULR implemented a change of control by issuing shares to new shareholders, redeeming shares of existing shareholders, electing new officers and directors and accepting the resignations of its then existing officers and directors.
Our wholly-owned subsidiary, KULR Technology Corp, was formed in 2013 and is based in San Diego, California. Since its inception, KTC primarily focused on developing and commercializing its thermal management technologies, which it acquired through assignment from and license with KTC’s co-founder Dr. Timothy Knowles. Prior to 2013, KTC’s technologies were used in numerous advanced space and industrial applications for NASA, Boeing, and Raytheon. A few notable achievements were the use of KTC’s technologies in the X-31 aircraft (battery heat sink), Mercury Messenger (battery heat sink), and X-51 Scramjet (heat exchanger).
On June 19, 2017, KULR closed a share exchange with KTC and 100% of the shareholders of KTC (the “KTC Shareholders”) whereby the KTC Shareholders agreed to transfer an aggregate of 25,000,000 shares of KTC’s common stock to KULR in exchange for the issuance of an aggregate of 50,000,000 shares of KULR’s common stock to the KTC Shareholders (the “Share Exchange”), resulting in KTC becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of KULR and KTC’s business of developing and commercializing its thermal management technologies becoming KULR’s main operation.
The Share Exchange was accounted for as a reverse recapitalization in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America, with KTC being treated as the acquiring company for accounting purposes. Accordingly, the financial statements included in this Annual Report reflect the assets, liabilities and historical results of KTC prior to the completion of the Share Exchange.
7
Table of Contents
On August 30, 2018, KULR changed its name from “KT High-Tech Marketing, Inc.” to “KULR Technology Group, Inc.” by filing a certificate of amendment to its Certificate of Incorporation with the office of the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware.
On December 31, 2018, KULR filed a certificate of amendment with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware, to increase the number of authorized shares of its common stock from 100,000,000 to 500,000,000. As a result, the aggregate number of the Company’s authorized capital stock became 520,000,000 shares.
Recent Developments
COVID-19
In December 2019, an outbreak of a novel strain of coronavirus, COVID-19, was identified in Wuhan, China. Since then, COVID-19 has spread across the globe, including the U.S., and other countries in which the Company or its affiliates operate, and was recognized as a pandemic by the World Health Organization. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a sharp contraction in many areas of the global economy and increased volatility and uncertainty in the capital markets. In response to the pandemic, the governments of many countries, provinces, states, municipalities, and other geographic regions took preventative or protective actions, including closures of certain businesses, mandatory quarantines, limits on individuals’ time outside of their homes, travel restrictions and social distancing or other preventative measures. Such measures have been eased or lifted in varying degrees by different governments of various countries, states and municipalities since implementation in 2020, but the continued spread of COVID-19 and increased infection rates has caused, and may continue to cause, some jurisdictions to roll back reopening plans that had been underway and re-impose quarantines, border closures, closure of certain businesses and stay-at-home orders.
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact the global economy and, specifically, the U.S., and the other countries in which the Company or its affiliates operate. We continue to closely monitor and respond, where possible, to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. As the global situation continues to change rapidly, ensuring the health and safety of our employees remains one of our top priorities.
In the U.S., numerous states have continued to remove their COVID-19 related restrictions. This has resulted in the re-opening of, and increased occupancy capacities in, retail outlets, including those that sell our products. Any reinstatement of restrictions on the operations of retail outlets could negatively impact our short-term results of operations in the U.S. Additionally, in the U.S., there have been a number of supply chain challenges, such as container ships facing delays due to congestion in ports, impacting many industries, including the industries in which we operate. For example, during the quarterly period ended March 31, 2022, we experienced significant impact to our business due to the COVID-19 lockdown in Shanghai, China, during which time inventory in excess of $325,000 could not be shipped. The product was shipped, and revenue was recognized during the subsequent quarter. COVID-related challenges have resulted in delays in product shipment, not cancellations. As restrictions have eased in recent months, we expect to make up for lost time and revenue as we move through our sizeable inventory. We are currently taking active steps to direct our production and supply chain activities to North America to geographically diversify and potentially reduce further COVID-19 impacts.
Although we have not yet seen a significant impact from supply chain disruptions, we continue to monitor our supply chain closely.
Collectively, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have adversely affected our results of operations and, if the effects continue unabated, could continue to do so as long as measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic remain in effect or supply chains continue to be challenged. At this time, neither the duration nor scope of the disruption can be predicted; therefore, the ultimate impact to our business cannot be reasonably estimated, but such impact could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Despite the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, we believe that our significant cash on hand and short-term investments will be adequate to meet liquidity and capital requirements for at least the next twelve months.
Appointment of Officers and Management
Appointment of Chief Technology Officer
On November 1, 2022, the Company announced the appointment by the Company’s Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Dr. William Walker as Chief Technology Officer (“CTO”) of the Company.
8
Table of Contents
Appointment of Lead Director of the Board
On November 1, 2022, the Board appointed Dr. Joanna Massey as lead director (the “Lead Director”) of the Board. Dr. Massey has served on the Board, and its committees, since June 2021. The Board, believing that the Lead Director position would enhance corporate governance and relieve certain duties of the Board’s Chairman, Michael Mo, to allow him to focus on the performance of his Chief Executive Officer duties, designated certain responsibilities to be fulfilled by the Lead Director, including but not limited to: (i) coordinating the activities of the independent directors; (ii) setting the agenda for board meetings in conjunction with the CEO and corporate secretary; (iii) chairing executive sessions of the independent directors; and (iv) performing such other duties as are assigned from time to time by the board.
Management Equity Incentive Grants
On November 1, 2022, the Board unanimously approved equity grants, to each of Dr. Joanna Massey and Morio Kurosaki, equal to 30,000 shares of the Company’s common stock to be vested in four equal quarterly installments (the first vest occurred on December 31, 2022), and grants of a fully vested 7,500 shares for services performed during the quarter ended September 30, 2022.
On November 1, 2022, the Board also unanimously approved the termination of a previously issued equity incentive grant of 1,500,000 shares to each of Keith Cochran and Michael Mo, which grants had vesting schedules corresponding with the achievement of certain market-capitalization milestones. In order to more accurately reflect the incentive compensation that the previously issued grants were intended to achieve, the Board approved replacement equity grants to each of Keith Cochran and Michael Mo in the form of Restricted Stock Units (“RSUs”) for the stock settlement of 1,500,000 shares, which RSUs contain provisions for delayed stock settlement and for vesting to occur in four equal annual installments. The foregoing is a summary description of certain terms of the RSUs.
Sales and Marketing Strategy
The Company employs various channels to market and sell its products and solutions, including direct sales to customers, as well as sales through representatives and strategic partners. We believe that establishing direct relationships with Key Accounts allows for deeper technical interactions, faster turnaround times, and provides valuable feedback that helps inform product development and marketing efforts. To ensure that our target customers fully understand the unique features and benefits of our products and services, we organize technology day events. We use a combination of marketing approaches to reach prospects and customers, such as leveraging employee, representative, and strategic partner relationships, maintaining an informative website, attending industry conferences, and conducting market research. Recently, we expanded our direct sales and marketing teams, and we are excited to welcome Mr. Ted Krupp, a highly experienced professional with important relationships in the Aerospace and Defense sectors, as our new VP of Sales and Marketing. Looking ahead, we plan to further expand our direct sales team to enhance our Key Account coverage and support a growing representative and distributor network.
Advertising and Communications Strategy
We employ a diverse range of advertising and communication tools to reach our audience. These include commissioning impartial white papers and technical papers, participating in industry events, conferences, and symposiums as attendees, sponsors, and guest speakers. We maintain a public relations consultant who oversees our press releases and media relations, ensuring that we maintain a positive presence in newspapers, magazines, and blogs. To bolster our social media outreach activities, we have a dedicated SEO specialist. We leverage our strong reputation within the thermal management and lithium-ion battery safety communities to spread positive feedback through word-of-mouth. Additionally, we utilize several social media platforms, such as LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, to reach a broader audience.
Intellectual Property and Patent Strategy
Our intellectual property strategy includes pursuing patent protection for new innovations in core carbon fiber architecture development, application development, acquisition of intellectual property, and licensing of third-party patents and intellectual property. As of December 31, 2022, we have twelve patents granted and assigned to KULR, an exclusive license to four third party patents, and ten pending nonprovisional and provisional patent applications.
9
Table of Contents
Product and Services
In addition to KULR ONE and KULR VIBE, here are some of the technologies and products we offer to customers:
Lithium-Ion Battery Thermal Runaway Shield (“TRS”) : KULR has developed a thermal insulation technology aimed at passive resistance to thermal runaway propagation in Li-ion batteries in partnership with National Aeronautics and Space Administration Johnson Space Center (“NASA JSC”). HYDRA TRS acts as a heat sink during normal Li-ion battery pack operation but also prevents thermal runaway propagation, which is a serious concern for aerospace and defense customers and electric vehicle manufacturers. The HYDRA is a vaporizing thermal capacitor that provides passive prevention of thermal runaway propagation (“TRP”) in Li-ion battery packs. Thermal runaway can occur spontaneously in a Li-ion cell due to a short. This can trigger an explosive release of electric energy that ruptures the end cap resulting in a flare and combustion of cell materials. Released heat drives the triggered cell temperatures to > 500°C, causing a dramatic increase in neighboring cell temperatures. Temperatures above the critical 130°C greatly increases the chance for a short in adjacent cells and result in TRP. TRS keeps neighboring cell temperatures from rising above 100°C (well below the 130°C threshold) and prevents TRP.
KULR Automated Battery Cell Screening and Test System: KULR completed the installation of a fully automated battery cell testing platform this January in our Sand Diego facility. The system fully supports the stringent requirements of NASA and the DOD. This platform has been designed to meet the entire specifications of NASA WI-037 battery testing requirements. This fully automated system is believed to be the only fully automated system capable of such performance. We have designed the system to be modular and have installed a minimum of 500K cell capacity annually capable of handling 18650 and 21700 cells. Volume processing will start in February 2023.
CellCheck: A scalable battery management platform to provide a new level of safety, performance optimization and regulatory compliance capabilities to our customers. We achieve this by putting together a modular architecture that is built on large data sets, performing an array of analytics, and then layering on top of it AI algorithms to provide predictive and preventative intelligence to our customers. It’s modular so that we can incorporate new capabilities and enhancements to the platform as the battery evolution accelerates in the coming years. This is another significant step to position KULR as a one-stop-shop total solutions provider of battery thermal energy and safety management.
KULR-Tech Safe Case: This product was developed for the commercial transportation and storage of Li-ion batteries. It is an extension of the product jointly developed with NASA, the TRS Bags which safely store and transport Li-ion batteries to and in the International Space Station. The cases have been tested and granted special permits by the Department of Transportation (DOT) for shipment of Li-ion batteries up to 2.1KWh for shipment of batteries classified as DDR (damaged, defective or recall), recycling and prototype.
Fiber Thermal Interface Material (“FTI”) : KULR thermal interface materials (“TIMs”) consist of vertically oriented carbon fiber velvets attached to a film of polymer or metal. The fiber packing density and orientation are selected to serve a wide range of applications, including hostile thermal and chemical environments, sliding interfaces, and interfaces with widely varying gaps. They can be coated for electrical isolation. They require low contact pressure and provide high thermal conductivity. Their light weight and high compliance make them uniquely suited for aerospace, industrial and high-performance commercial devices.
Phase Change Material (“PCM”) Heat Sink : KULR PCM composite heat sinks consisting of a conductive carbon fiber velvet embedded with a proprietary heat dissipation medium having high latent heat at its melting point. Such heat sinks offer passive thermal control for instruments that would otherwise overheat or under-cool during periodic operations. A typical application involves lasers that dissipate heat but need tight thermal control where active cooling is unavailable.
Internal Short Circuit (“ISC”) Device : In March 2018, KULR reached an agreement with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (“NREL”), a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy, to be the exclusive manufacturing and distribution partner for the patented ISC device, which causes predictable battery cell failures in Li-ion batteries, making them easier to study and, therefore, safer. Li-ion batteries are the industry and consumer standard for portable power; billions of individual battery cells exist and billions more are planned for production. They provide power for everything from smart phones and laptops to electric cars and space crafts. But Li-ion batteries fail, sometimes with catastrophic results. Due to the relative rarity of cell failures, scientists and researchers had been unable to reliably or accurately replicate latent defect cell failures in lab settings, impeding research into safer battery technology.
CRUX Cathode : The CRUX Cathode is composed of a carbon fiber velvet, providing a means of generating powerful electron pulses by field emission from the tops of the carbon fibers. CRUX Cathodes can be customized for different applications
10
Table of Contents
including the generation of microwaves, x-rays, and laser radiation. They can be fabricated in a wide variety of physical configurations, ranging from simple planar and cylindrical forms to more complex lobed shapes.
Competition
Currently, the battery industry uses a number of solutions to mitigate thermal runaway propagation that are offered by Aspen Aerogel, Unifrax, Lydall, LHS, 3M, Engineered Syntactic Systems, Celono, AllCell and others. Each of their solutions offer unique features and benefits for a specific application. We do not believe, however, that there is a one-size-fits-all solution across all applications. We believe our PPR design solution offers competitive light-weight and effective solutions for high energy battery cells because it is more flexible and can fit into different design configurations. For applications that require passive, light-weight solutions for high energy density battery cells, TRS offers a competitive solution.
Thermal interface material is a large and fragmented market with many large suppliers including Henkel Bergquist, Fujipoly, Laird, 3M, Honeywell and others. These solutions are typically based on silicone and thermal particles. KULR’s FTI offers high bulk thermal conductivity and low contact pressure requirements, which we believe gives us a competitive advantage over other thermal interface solutions.
Our licensed ISC device offers a reliable way to trigger battery cell thermal runaway compared to nail penetration, over-charging or over-heating the cell. ISC does not rely on mechanically damaging the battery exterior to activate the short, as do most of the other evaluation methodologies. Instead, the ISC devices trigger true internal shorts. This makes it possible to accurately pinpoint and fix problems leading to malfunctions, an ability that we believe will give us a competitive advantage over other testing solutions.
Governmental Regulation and Environmental Compliance
Certain substances we use in our manufacturing process are subject to federal governmental regulations (such as Environmental Protect Agency regulations). We believe we are in material compliance with all applicable governmental regulations, and that the cost and effect of compliance with environmental laws is not material. As a small generator of hazardous substances, we are subject to local governmental regulations relating to the storage, discharge, handling, emission, generation, manufacture and disposal of toxic or other hazardous substances, such as acetone that is used in very small quantities to manufacture our products. We are currently in compliance with these regulations. Most new materials sold in the U.S or in many other countries require regulation by government authorities. In most other countries, there are no specific regulations that require additional regulation, but some countries do have registration requirements with which we comply to the best our ability.
Employees
As of December 31, 2022, we had 62 full time employees and 16 contractors. We believe that we maintain a good working relationship with our employees, and we have not experienced any significant labor disputes. In addition, KULR leverages outsource partners for IT management, Software Development, Battery Cell R&D, and Machine Automation.
Intellectual Property
We seek to establish and maintain our proprietary rights in our technology and products through the use of patents, copyright, trademarks and trade secrets. We have, and will continue to, file applications for and/or obtain patents, copyrights and trademarks in the United States and selected foreign countries where we believe filing for such protection is appropriate. We also seek to maintain our trade secrets and confidential information by implementing organizational nondisclosure policies and through the use of appropriate confidentiality agreements. As of December 31, 2022, we held eight U.S. patents and six non-provisional pending U.S. patent applications with expiration dates ranging from 2022 to 2035. In addition, KULR has exclusive license on four patents from its partnerships. There can be no assurance, however, that the rights obtained can be successfully enforced against infringing products in every jurisdiction. While our patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets provide some advantage and protection, we believe our competitive position and future success is largely determined by such factors as the system and application knowledge, innovative skills, technological expertise and management ability and experience of our personnel; the range and success of new products being developed by us; our market brand recognition and ongoing marketing efforts; and customer service and technical support. We also have trademarks that are used in the conduct of our business to distinguish genuine KULR products; KULR has been granted trademarks for Class 9 and Class 17 applications.
11
Table of Contents
Text extracted from the filing as submitted to EDGAR. Formatting, tables and exhibits are simplified for reading; the original document is authoritative for anything you rely on.