NEO Battery Materials Ltd. has entered into a three-year, non-binding Letter of Intent with Japanese drone manufacturer Liberaware Co., Ltd. and subsidiary Hinotate Co., Ltd. to jointly innovate on unmanned aerial systems and evaluate establishing a dedicated drone battery manufacturing facility in Japan.

The partnership involves integrating the company's silicon-enhanced battery cells, packs, and battery management systems into Liberaware and Hinotate's aerial platforms. Because battery performance directly dictates flight time, range, and payload capacity, the collaboration aims to optimize power systems for confined, GPS-denied environments. The parties will evaluate manufacturing capabilities at the company's South Korea facilities to assess capacity, supply chains, and quality certification for a potential joint venture or special-purpose vehicle structure at an agreed site in Japan.

The current agreement follows initial validation orders secured from a major Japanese drone manufacturer in August 2026. NEO conducts its operational and manufacturing activities through its South Korean operating subsidiary, NEO Battery Korea Co., Ltd., having previously acquired a 3.2-acre expansion site in South Korea to establish commercial-scale cell assembly for drone and robotics applications.

“NEO is proactively expanding to support and integrate into the Japanese market, where demand for reliable, locally manufactured drone components continues to grow under the Japan Sovereign UAS Platform,” said Mr. Spencer Huh, CEO of NEO. “As a long-term strategy, partnering with a leading drone platform company provides a path to expand our manufacturing capacity through external resource and financial support and open accelerated access to Japan's defense ecosystem and the associated federal and municipal government funding.”

— Mr. Spencer Huh, CEO of NEO

Read the full announcement: NEO Battery Enters Partnership with Leading Japanese Drone Company for High-Performance Battery Manufacturing