[Edaily Reporter Shin Ha-yeon ] UNI CHEM.CO.,LTD(011330), a global industrial materials specialist with 50 years of experience, is making a full-scale entry into the e-Skin market, considered a core technology for the era of humanoid robots.

UNI CHEM.CO.,LTD announced on the 5th that it has signed a term sheet to acquire 100% of the shares in Loomia Technologies, Inc., a flexible electronics deep-tech company headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, at a valuation of up to $6.3 million.

Through this acquisition, UNI CHEM.CO.,LTD will expand its business scope from its current role as a manufacturer of automotive interior materials to become a smart materials platform company for future mobility and humanoid robots. The company’s strategy is to combine its 50 years of accumulated expertise in the manufacturing and processing of natural leather and industrial materials with Loomia’s core flexible electronics technology to broaden its application scope beyond automobiles to include robots, medical devices, wearables, and artificial intelligence (AI) data centers.

◇“Skin” That Robots Can “Feel”… Expanding Beyond Automobiles to Humanoid Robots

Loomia is a flexible electronics company founded in 2014 by Madison Maxey, a Stanford engineering graduate. The company co-developed LEL (Loomia Electronic Layer), a proprietary technology that enables the embedding of electronic circuits within leather or fabric using an ultra-thin circuit structure.

Unlike traditional printed circuit boards (PCBs), LEL is thin and flexible, allowing it to be embedded within materials. By utilizing this technology, automotive seats, leather, and fabrics can function as smart materials that generate heat, detect pressure and temperature, or transmit data.

Lumia is expanding the application of its technology beyond automobiles into the fields of humanoid robots and tactile sensors. According to UNI CHEM.CO.,LTD, Lumia has been in development discussions with leading U.S. robotics companies to apply its technology to physical AI, and is also exploring ways to incorporate flexible tactile sensors and electronic circuit technology into training gloves used to build robotics datasets.

Lumia’s technology can collect information such as pressure, contact location, and slippage even on soft and flexible surfaces, making it suitable for use as electronic skin on the hands, grippers, and exteriors of humanoid robots.

Lumia is also a member of the “HAND ERC,” a consortium whose industrial members include Meta and Amazon Robotics. The HAND ERC is a consortium aimed at advancing tactile sensing technology in robotics, and Lumia is discussing ways to apply tactile sensing technology to key physical AI applications.

Following the acquisition, UNI CHEM.CO.,LTD plans to expand its business by combining Lumia’s thin and flexible tactile sensor technology with its expertise in processing natural leather and high-performance materials to develop large-area electronic skin that covers not only robotic hands and grippers but also the entire robotic exoskeleton.

The company is also pursuing mass production in the automotive sector. Through Sabelt, a global automotive seat and parts manufacturer, Lumia has been selected as a supplier of seat heating systems for the Volkswagen Group’s Ecosystem vehicle program. Utilizing LEL technology, the company plans to supply seat heating solutions that are thinner and more flexible than conventional heating wires.

With the acquisition of Lumia, UNI CHEM.CO.,LTD aims to upgrade its existing automotive materials business into a smart interior materials business. The company plans to combine UNI CHEM.CO.,LTD’s natural leather manufacturing and post-processing technologies with LEL to incorporate heating, pressure sensing, and touch input functions into automotive seats, door trim, armrests, and dashboards.

Lumia’s flexible heating and sensing technologies can also be utilized in medical heating devices, rehabilitation equipment, pressure-distribution devices, and wearable monitoring products. UNI CHEM.CO.,LTD and Lumia also plan to explore ways to apply LEL technology to thermal management, such as attaching flexible sensors to servers and equipment in AI data centers to detect temperature distribution and abnormal heat generation. However, the data center sector is a new R&D area where the feasibility of technology application and business viability will be verified following the acquisition.

◇ Performance-Based Acquisition Structure… Establishing a North American R&D Hub

The final acquisition agreement will be pursued within an enterprise value cap of up to $6.3 million. The two companies are negotiating a transaction structure that combines installment payments in cash, consideration in the form of UNI CHEM.CO.,LTD common stock, and performance-based consideration tied to future technology development and commercialization achievements.

A portion of the acquisition consideration will be paid upon closing the transaction, while the remainder will be paid in stages upon Lumia’s achievement of pre-agreed milestones, such as technology development and revenue targets. The specific ratios of cash and stock consideration, conditional convertible bonds, and performance-linked consideration will be finalized following due diligence and final contract negotiations.

To ensure the continuity of its technology and business operations, UNI CHEM.CO.,LTD plans to retain Lumia’s founder and key R&D personnel following the acquisition. The company is pursuing a plan for Madison Maxi, the founder, and Kim Han-ju, UNI CHEM.CO.,LTD’s Chief Strategy Officer (CSO), to join as co-CEOs, while key technical personnel, including Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Ezgi Ucar, will be responsible for global R&D and business expansion.

Lumia’s Brooklyn, New York, subsidiary and R&D organization will serve as UNI CHEM.CO.,LTD’s hub for North American R&D and entry into the U.S. market. In the U.S., the company plans to expand joint development efforts with global automakers, robotics firms, and medical device companies, while in South Korea, it intends to leverage UNI CHEM.CO.,LTD’s manufacturing facilities and partner network to transition prototypes into mass-produced products.

A UNI CHEM.CO.,LTD official stated, “The acquisition of Lumia marks the starting point for UNI CHEM.CO.,LTD’s transformation from a simple manufacturer of automotive interior materials into an intelligent smart materials company that combines materials and electronic technology,” adding, “We will expand technologies proven in the automotive sector to the fields of humanoid robot hands, electronic skin, medical devices, and data center thermal management.”