News

Boston-Power Secures $8 Million in Series A Financing

November 12, 2006 by Jeff Shepard

Boston-Power, Inc.,™ an early stage provider of portable power solutions, announced it has raised $8 million in first round financing led by investors Venrock Associates and Gabriel Venture Partners. Prior to this investment, the company received seed round funding from private investors including company Chairman Carol Latham. The company also announced its board of directors, comprising battery industry veterans and prominent business advisors.

Boston-Power is led by CEO and founder Dr. Christina Lampe-Onnerud, an authority in battery system innovation and design. Strategy and technology advisor to the global battery industry, Lampe-Onnerud has assembled a world-class team with more than 100 years of combined experience in Lithium-ion technology. Headquartered in Westborough, Mass., Boston-Power also has established Six Sigma-level manufacturing operations in Shenzhen, China.

"The Lithium-ion battery technology powering the portable devices consumers rely upon - laptops as well as PDAs and mobile phones - has reached a critical point in its evolution," stated Dr. Lampe-Onnerud. "In January 2005, Boston-Power set out to develop a Lithium-ion battery pack system that would meet the market need now, deliver the highest quality and safety available and still provide industry best performance by a dramatic margin. It was an ambitious goal, and the group we've assembled has achieved it. By pairing our industry and operational expertise with that of our investors and advisors, we're poised to bring our first products to market in the near term."

"We target the power and energy sectors and we've heard many proposals from a range of companies," said Scott Chou, partner with Gabriel Venture Partners. "Boston-Power stood out for its unparalleled talent, vision, innovative approaches to chemistry, design and manufacturing, and its ability to deliver solutions to the market now."

"For the past several years, Dr. Lampe-Onnerud has been keynoting industry and government events worldwide, defining the mounting crisis facing battery technology and what must be done to address it," said Michael Feinstein, general partner with Venrock Associates. "With the recent battery recalls and consumers' insatiable demand for power-hungry personal electronics products, the situation she identified is now unfolding. Venrock only invests when there's the right combination of unmatched executive and engineering talent, combined with substantial market growth opportunity. Boston-Power meets those specifications perfectly."