Heat is like poison to electronics; it can cause malfunctions, explosions, and fires. With consumers’ insatiable thirst for more power and speed, heat damage is a growing concern. For a solution, companies are, quite literally, looking outside the planet to technologies used by NASA during space exploration.
This isn’t unprecedented. Technology used in Nike Air sneakers stems from NASA work, as does baby formula ingredients, insulin pumps, artificial limbs, camera phones and scratch-resistant lenses, amongst other things that are commonplace today.
Up next could be the advanced carbon-based thermal solutions of KULR Technology Group, Inc. (OTCQB:KULR). The KULR team has two decades of experience providing the aerospace industry with cutting-edge carbon fiber-based thermal management solutions for a myriad of applications ranging from the Mercury Messenger satellite to X-31 aircraft to the recently announced Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover.
Formed in 2013 to focus on cooling solutions in the high-performance electronics and battery industries, the subsequent list of accomplishments has been nothing shy of impressive. They have included the KULR PCM heat sink technology inside the International Space Station (ISS) NICER telescope, a partnership with Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) to supply NASA with Lithium-Ion battery storage solutions during transit to the ISS and another contract that is putting the Company’s heat sink technology on Mars as part of the upcoming NASA-JPL 2020 Mars mission.
Know that when you see news reports showing the Rover scuttling around on Mars looking for signs of previous life that crucial thermal management for its vital components is being provided by KULR.
In addition to working with NASA, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), Defense Logistics Agency and Leidos, KULR has collaborative partners in Boeing (NYSE:BA), Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) and Ball Aerospace & Technologies, to name a few. Through a new partnership with Li-ion battery shipping juggernaut Americase, KULR’s Thermal Runaway Shield technology is in the early stages of becoming mainstream here on Earth. Americase controls about 70% of the market, providing an excellent opportunity for KULR to get a great deal of exposure with companies in the shipping and logistics industry that needs improved packaging solutions that better prevent dangerous battery fires. In fact, just this week Bloomberg reported a battery fire that destroyed a FedEx truck in Canada, highlighting the need for improved regulation and safety requirements. The Company has also been working with partners on developing a safer battery enclosure/pack for various government and consumer-facing applications.
It’s fair to say that this little company is a big anomaly for a company traded on the OTC.
The deep relationship with the DoD has even resulted in a Memorandum of Understanding with the Air Force Medical Group related to potentially supplying a novel PPE decontamination device developed jointly between KULR and its Japanese partner.
All Coming Together at the Right Time
The emergence of 5G, power-packed consumer electronics, next-gen power tools, and E-mobility (electric powertrains in vehicles), has created a growing need for cutting edge technologies to control temperatures. To that end, there is nothing like that of KULR’s proprietary carbon-based solutions, meaning the company occupies a key niche capable of satisfying the increasing thermal management demands of many of these emerging technologies.
In an “if you build it, they will come” type of moment, companies are showing strong interest in what KULR brings to the table to help their products stay cooler. The carbon technology is a key differentiator from competitors like Henkel, Laird, Honeywell (NYSE:HON), and Fujipoly that are outclassed by their smaller peer when it comes to carbon-based thermal management.
The numbers speak for themselves, as the KULR customer base more than doubled in 2019 to 28.
KULR CEO Michael Mo hit the nail on the head in a succinct comment during an interview with Proactive when he simply said the years of dedicated work has put his company at an inflection point. 2020 is a coming out party for the relatively unknown company as it adds to its list of world-class partners and customers and moves several new consumer-facing products through different stages of development.
The company is clearly going through both horizontal and vertical growth while simultaneously cutting its monthly cash burn by half. If management is successful meeting its goal of being cash flow neutral by the end of the year, investors will be standing up to pay attention to this upstart and the days of trading near an all-time low like is happening now may be long gone.