Solid-state battery developer Factorial Energy on June 8, 2026 closed its merger with Cartesian Growth Corporation III and began trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market as "FAC" and "FACWW" at an equity value of approximately $1.3 billion, ending a multi-year run as a privately held automaker partner and pulling the U.S. solid-state battery race into the public market spotlight.
$1.3B Equity Value And A $100M Cash Bank
The Boston-based company said the SPAC transaction with Cartesian Growth Corp III provides more than $100 million in gross proceeds to fund continued commercialization of its FEST and Solstice cell platforms across electric vehicles, drones, hyperscale data centers and defense and aerospace applications. CEO Siyu Huang framed the listing as the start of scale: "The automotive industry is the most demanding proving ground in the world, and we've shown our technology can perform in real cars on real roads."
Mercedes, Stellantis, Hyundai And Karma Have Already Bought In
Factorial has banked enough OEM validation to make the FAC ticker more than a SPAC bet. Last September a lightly modified Mercedes-Benz EQS drove 1,205 km (745+ miles) on a single charge using Factorial FEST cells, with usable energy up 25% at roughly the same pack weight and size. Stellantis separately validated 77 Ah Factorial cells at 375 Wh/kg over 600+ cycles last year, with 10–90% fast charging in 18 minutes. Karma Automotive launched the first U.S. solid-state battery production program with Factorial earlier in 2026, and Hyundai and Kia round out the strategic-investor list.
Drones And Data Centers Are The New Surprise
The pitch deck is no longer just about cars. Factorial said Q2 2026 brought collaborations with three drone integrators across the U.S., Europe and Asia (KULR, Tulip Tech and JRES), and the company has explicitly listed hyperscale data centers and defense and aerospace as core verticals for the listed entity. In-Q-Tel — the not-for-profit investor for the U.S. national security community — backed the company in Q1 2026 to push exactly that diversification.
A Capital-Light Business Model
Unlike rival battery startups that pour cash into gigafactories, Factorial's pitch is a joint-manufacturing model where partners shoulder factory capex while Factorial licenses cell IP and core process know-how. That approach gets the company to scale without taking on the balance sheet of a Northvolt or a QuantumScape, but it also means Factorial captures a smaller slice of the value chain than a fully integrated cell maker would.
What Happens Next
Factorial plans to ring the Nasdaq opening bell on June 17, 2026, with demonstration vehicles and FEST battery cells outside the exchange. The company has said its solid-state batteries could be powering production EVs as soon as 2027 — the same target window BYD and four other Chinese automakers are racing toward, which makes the next 18 months the moment Factorial has to convert nameplates into actual cars on roads.
Reporting based on coverage from GlobeNewswire, Electrek and The New York Times.