# Ilika CEO Graeme Purdy on Stereax and Goliath progress (LON:IKA)

- Link: https://www.directorstalkinterviews.com/ilika-ceo-graeme-purdy-on-stereax-and-goliath-progress-lonika/4121237742
- Published: 2026-02-02T09:23:24+00:00
- Author: Amilia Stone

**[Ilika plc](https://www.directorstalkinterviews.com/company/ilika-plc/ika.l) (
[LON:IKA](https://www.directorstalkinterviews.com/company/ilika-plc/ika.l)) **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.

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