Ilika plc (LON:IKA) Chief Executive Officer Graeme Purdy caught up with DirectorsTalk to discuss the company’s commercial milestones for its Stereax miniature solid-state batteries and progress on its large-format Goliath programme for electric vehicles.
Q1: Graham, just looking over your half-year report, it seems like commercial readiness for your Stereax product has made significant progress over the last six months.
A1: Yes, absolutely. I think we started the period confirming that we had completed commissioning of the equipment that we have transferred to Cirtec Medical for them to be able to manufacture the Stereax product. We then moved on to the initial production, so the production of the first batches of products and of course, just before the turn of the new year, back in 2025 now, we confirmed delivery of products to the initial customers.
Of course, just yesterday, we have built on that momentum and been able to confirm that the first purchase order for the follow-up delivery of our electrode that’s made here in the UK and integrated into the product that is being marketed, the first order for that came through. So, there’s a follow-on batch of electrode that’s being manufactured right now to fulfil that order.
Q2: Which Stereax applications are you most excited about?
A2: We’ve got some fantastic applications, really, that the Stereax batteries are designed to power.
So, you can start with implanted sensors, so applications like managing chronic blood pressure conditions. You’ve got neurostimulators so an example would be pain relief of people with lower back pain. You’ve got orthopaedics, so smart orthopaedics, where you can monitor the movement of implanted joint replacements, like hip and knee replacements, shoulder replacements. You’ve got orthodontics and then finally, contact lens and eye-related medical devices.
Q3: So, what’s next? What’s the next Stereax milestone that we are most excited to hear about?
A3: The next milestone that we’re focused on, really, is integration of the Stereax product into a technology platform that has been developed by Cirtec Medical. That’s really a precursor to then full integration into applications at end customers, at OEMs, who are interested in putting that platform into their devices.
So, really, together with Cirtec Medical, we’re able to offer a fully integrated technical solution to some of these opportunities.
Q4: Regarding Goliath, it seems like you’ve grown your customer base, despite some media headlines about the slowdown in the EV uptake.
A4: I think it’s easy sometimes to get misled, actually, by media headlines, as we’ve seen over the years and in particular, the EV sector in the UK is still growing very strongly. So, sales had grown to 23% so these are pure EV sales across the UK market in 2025, I think in December, actually, they were as high as 32%. When you add in hybrid electric vehicles, actually, the majority of vehicles sold in the UK last year had a battery component to them. So, still a very strongly growing market. Clearly, globally, there’s some headwinds, I would say, particularly in the US, but that market is still looking for opportunities.
Really, our pitch there is all about how we’re differentiated from totally commoditised, low-cost Chinese batteries. Of course, European manufacturers really need to think about what’s the technology that they’re implementing at gigafactory scale to avoid competing just on cost. You need to be able to offer something differentiated to customers.
The whole premise for Goliath batteries is that we’re able to offer a reduced cost of the battery pack in conjunction with an extended range and shorter charging times. So, that’s very attractive to the motorist.
Q5: Now, it seems like grant funding is still important to your Goliath programme too.
A5: Yes, absolutely. We’ve got a live grant that is called the PRIMED Project, which is managed by the Advanced Propulsion Centre and that allows us to collaborate together with leading automotive players. We’ve got JLR that’s on the steering committee and we’ve also got support from the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre, UKBIC, to demonstrate some of the larger scale manufacturing of our electrodes, our coded electrodes, together with support from Professor Paul Shearing at the University of Oxford.
So, some of the leading minds in the automotive industry helping us to make sure that we really deliver on the targets that we’ve set ourselves for Goliath.
Q6: Speaking of delivery, just before the 2025-year end, you delivered a 10-amp power prototype to customers. How significant was that to you? What is next?
A6: That’s a significant step forward and that allows us to then interact with a lot of module and pack designers in the automotive industry and we’re now at a scale that can be deployed.
So, the next thing that we’re entering into discussions about is a closer definition of our minimum viable product. Can we get away with a 10-amp power size device? Do we need to go all the way to a 50-amp power prototype, which we’ve talked about previously? We’re on a mission to make sure that we commercialise as quickly as possible and so that’s the live discussion at the moment.
