[The Stock = Reporter Kim Dong-jin] Recently, high-tech material development startups have attracted great attention in the domestic investment market. 

High-tech materials refer to new materials that manufacture metal, inorganic, organic raw materials, and raw materials combined with these with new technologies to bring about new performance and uses that have not existed before. As various industries such as semiconductors and displays, secondary batteries, bio, robots, new fibers, and green tech require cutting-edge materials, related demand is rapidly increasing. 

According to market research firm Global Information (GII), the market size of high-tech materials is expected to grow 6.21% annually from $78.25 billion in 2023, reaching $119.35 billion (about 163 trillion won) by 2030.  

High-tech materials are the future food market with such high growth potential, but they are considered not easy for companies to jump into because they take high technology, enormous cost, and long time from development to commercialization. 

In the field of such high-tech materials, domestic startups have recently made achievements in attracting investment, product development, and market development based on their excellent technology.

According to related industries on the 8th, 'Quantum Port (CEO Kwon Young-wan), a developer of room temperature and normal pressure superconductors, attracted seed investment from 'IM Advanced Materials', a subsidiary of KOSDAQ-listed IM on the 7th.  

Kwon Young-wan, CEO of Quantumport, is a research professor at the KU-KIST Graduate School of Convergence and participated in the "LK-99" paper, a room temperature and atmospheric pressure superconductor material, and applied for a patent on "room temperature, atmospheric pressure superconducting ceramic compounds and their manufacturing methods" in March. 

Since 2016, I.M. has been actively entering the smart film business such as touch sensor modules and transparent heating films, and this year, it is expanding its scope into new material businesses. I.M. established I.M. Advanced Materials in 2020 by spinning off its business units in the field to foster and specialize in new promising businesses. 

With this investment attraction, Quantumport plans to participate in the new material business of IM and IM advanced materials and play an advisory role.

I.M. said, "We will invest in Quantum Port with the aim of expanding our business and discovering new materials," adding, "We will increase our competitiveness within the industry by expanding opportunities to enter new markets and strengthening our technology."

On the same day, "Bid Origin (CEO Nam Jae-do)" that specializes in CMP abrasive particles for semiconductors also successfully received a 2 billion won Series A investment from 3M Ventures, a venture capital firm of 3M Company, a U.S. multinational company. It is the first time that 3M Company has invested in a Korean venture company. 

Bead Origin is a teacher start-up company established in 2019 by Professor Nam Jae-do of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Polymer Engineering at Sungkyunkwan University and focuses on manufacturing CMP (flattening process) abrasives used in semiconductor manufacturing processes. Bead Origin has developed and possesses original technologies for particle manufacturing, technologies for controlling size, shape, and surface charge, and evaluation technologies.

Regarding the investment attraction, Nam Jae-do, CEO of Vid Origin, said, "Vid Origin is a key material in the semiconductor industry and a company that has succeeded in mass-producing ceria polishing particles that are 100% dependent on foreign countries," adding, "We plan to contribute to the expansion of the Korean semiconductor industry through continuous technological innovation and development of customized solutions."

Siri Energy (CEO Jeong Kyung-jin), a next-generation secondary battery silicon and lithium cathode material developer, also attracted seed investment from Seoul National University Technology Holdings on the same day.

Existing secondary battery silicon materials are attracting worldwide attention as next-generation cathode materials, but they have a technical problem in that the high-capacity capacity is not maintained for a long time due to silicon expansion during charging and discharging of secondary batteries. Siri Energy is developing a silicon composite to solve this problem with its own material manufacturing and structure technology. In addition, lithium electrodes and lithium powders are being commercialized to solve the technical problem of lithium metal electrodes becoming uneven.

"The competitive battery material market is an area that needs innovation," said Seoul National University Technology Holdings, which decided to invest this time. "Siri Energy aims to advance silicon cathode material technology and develop all-solid battery technology through lithium cathode solutions, which will contribute to the technological development of the Korean battery material market."

Earlier on the 2nd, 'WILCO (CEO Park Sang-won), a battery thermal runaway delayed material company, succeeded in attracting Free A investment from Daekyo Investment. This is the investment in Bridge following the investment of Hansaeyes24 Partners in December last year. Based on this investment, Wilco will use it to diversify products of electric vehicle battery pack thermal runaway delayed materials and build low-loss substrate manufacturing lines for ultra-high frequency bands such as satellites.

High-tech Materials to Emerge as Future Food…Investment in related development startups one after another - The Stock (the-stock.kr)