Boeing HorizonX Ventures Digs Deep Into Wallet To Acquire Energy Storage Firm Cuberg
A little over a month ago, we reported that Cuberg was a potential candidate for Boeing’s HorizonX Venture project in order to further its electric airplanes (e-plane) ambitions. The company announced it had agreed to purchase the Californian-based energy solution maker.
Boeing understands all too well that it needs to kickstart its battery development into high gear if it wants to cement its presence as one of the electric aerospace giants of the future. In order to prove it was serious about e-planes, it announced its first investment of the energy storage company Cuberg.
Spun off from a Stanford University research project and backed by several financing rounds and grant funding, the Berkeley startup was aiming at the next-generation battery technology for potential aerospace and industrial applications three years ago. The company focused its efforts on developing advanced battery cell designs that could generate high-energy density with a lithium metal anode, high-voltage cathode, and a proprietary electrolyte. All of this is forced through a high-voltage cathode for high energy density and resilient thermal qualities. Cuberg now hopes to use this as a drop-in solution to existing large-scale battery manufacturing processes.
And speaking of Boeing, guess what this ties into?
According to Steve Nordlund, vice president of Boeing HorizonX: “Cuberg’s battery technology has some of the highest energy density we’ve seen in the marketplace, and its unique chemistries could prove to be a safe, stable solution for future electric air transportation.” That means the previous Boeing investment in the Zunum Aero project we wrote about before means using an electric aircraft is closer than we expect.
