Ilika ships first batch of Stereax batteries to Blink Energy

Solid-state battery technology specialist Ilika announced the shipment of its first batch of ‘Stereax’ batteries on Tuesday, to its customer, Blink Energy.

The AIM-traded firm said the shipment was the first of many planned deliveries over the coming months.

It said the shipment was made up of a batch of single-layer Stereax M50 cells, which could be used individually, or as “building blocks” for constructing the M300 batteries, made up of six M50 cells connected in parallel.

Blink Energy is a provider of device-agnostic power and communications platforms for ocular devices.

Ilika said Blink was currently designing products to power and connect smart ocular devices to resolve unmet needs of patient compliance, reliability, connectivity, and pricing in the smart contact lens market.

The “ultra-thin profile” of the M50 cells was of particular benefit to Blink Energy's solution, ‘Blink IT’, which is a smart patch device that fits onto the eyelid epicanthal fold and contains a designated power and communication platform that wirelessly connects a smart lens to a mobile app.

Ilika had announced on 16 January that it was finalising terms of an intended partnership with Cirtec Medical.

The two companies had signed a memorandum of understanding that outlines the transfer of Stereax mm-scale battery manufacturing to Cirtec's facility in Lowell, Massachusetts.

After the transfer, Ilika said it would focus on the advanced technology development and intellectual property licensing to support Cirtec's manufacturing and commercialisation activities.

“We are delighted to have begun fulfilling our commitments to customers by shipping batteries from our UK facility,” said chief executive officer Graeme Purdy.

“Starting with Blink Energy, we look forward to further supporting our customers' product roadmaps for miniature medical devices and industrial internet-of-things applications.

“Our relationship with Cirtec will further support commercial ramp-up in due course.”

At 1049 BST, shares in Ilika were up 6.59% at 46.9p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.