Hanwha Aerospace invests in US secondary battery startup

South Korea's Hanwha Aerospace Co. on Tuesday said it invested in Forge Nano, an American startup with precision nano-coating technology that extends the lifespan of secondary batteries. 

Hanwha participated in Series C investment along with American investors such as Orion Infrastructure Capital, Catalus Ventures and Ascent Funds. Forge Nano has attracted a combined $50 million (66.4 billion won) in investment.

With the funds, the startup will boost investment in materials technology and launch construction this year of a second pilot plant of 1 gigawatt hour applying its technology.

Founded in 2011 at a laboratory of the University of Colorado-Boulder, Forge Nano is known for its materials coating technology for secondary batteries and has attracted investment from Volkswagen and others.

Hanwha Aerospace said it made this investment to expand synergy with systems for eco-friendly power and energy storage for urban air mobility, submarines and private vessels.

"We will seek to preemptively secure next-generation battery technology and apply it to the eco-friendly power system of future mobility.," a company source said.

Write to Hyung-Kyu Kim at khk@hankyung.com