Next-generation electric vehicle (EV) battery developer SES AI (SES 11.52%) unveiled a new product on Tuesday, and it wasn't a battery. Still, investors liked what they saw of the new good and rewarded the company by pushing its share price up by more than 12% as a result. That increase contrasted positively with the performance of the S&P 500 index, which was down by 0.4% on the day.
Pushing harder into software
Appropriately enough, SES AI took the wraps off that new offering at industry gathering The Battery Show. Specifically, this is the company's Molecular Universe 1.0 (MU-1), the latest version of its battery material discovery software and service platform.
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MU-1 is a suite that, according to its maker, offers end-to-end assistance in all phases of material discovery. It features access to a library of supporting research materials, and the ability to search by attributes including molecule, formulation, and cell performance.
The program will be commercially available starting Monday, Oct. 20. SES AI said it is already earning revenue from the product from two enterprise customers, although it did not place a dollar figure on that assertion.
Subscription options
Customers will have the option of purchasing MU-1 as a subscription, which should produce a stream of recurring revenue for SES AI.
The company quoted founder and CEO Qichao Hu as saying that this, combined with the platform's new features, "will complement the acceleration of our go-to-market strategy in the battery industry and our potential entry into molecule-dependent industries such as specialty chemicals, personal care, and oil and gas."
