Infinite Power Solutions Raises $34.7 Million for Building Thin-Film Battery Manufacturing Facilities
Infinite Power Solutions (IPS) announced that it raised $34.7 million primarily to build new facilities for high-volume manufacturing of its LiTE STAR™ thin-film batteries. Proceeds from this deal will also be used to accelerate business development and continue innovation of future battery technologies. The D. E. Shaw group and Polaris Venture Partners led the investment. Other new investors include Core Capital Partners and Applied Ventures, LLC (the venture capital fund of Applied Materials). Also joining the round were existing investors including Advanced Energy Technologies (AET), and SpringWorks (a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Petters Group).
"We are extremely excited about the strategic value this top-tier venture capital group brings to our company. Combined with our current investors, this group adds a wealth of industry experience and contacts that will allow IPS to maintain its industry leadership in thin-film battery technology," said Raymond Johnson, President and CEO of IPS. "This new capital will enable us to scale our technology, build state-of-the-art fabs, and ramp to high volume production."
Founded in 2001, IPS has focused on commercializing its thin-film battery (TFB) technology. Dr. Bernd Neudecker (CTO of IPS) and his team of battery experts have continued to perfect the technology to where it can now be mass-produced by IPS on a thin, inexpensive, flexible substrate.
Serving on IPS's new board of directors are Raymond Johnson (IPS), Dr. Alexander Wong (the D. E. Shaw group), Dr. Robert M. Metcalfe (Polaris Venture Partners), Jonathan M. Silver (Core Capital Partners), George Danko (SpringWorks), Michele Klein (Applied Ventures, Observer), and Michael DeConcini (Tucson Electric Power, Observer).
Alex Wong of the D. E. Shaw group said, "Infinite Power Solutions has clearly shown their capability to manufacture a new generation of powerful, ultra-thin, micro-batteries to meet a growing demand for smaller, flexible and rechargeable power sources. We're pleased that this investment will move IPS' technology into high volume manufacturing and expand its market applications."
Bob Metcalfe of Polaris said, "We've seen many start-ups with new battery chemistries. The IPS solid-state TFB technology, with its postage-stamp size, extreme durability, high power, flexibility, and virtually infinite rechargeability, is truly disruptive. In 2007, a projected 10 billion embedded micro-controllers will be shipped worldwide in a vast variety of applications. Many new applications of micro-controllers, sensors, and tags will be enabled by IPS' rechargeable TFBs."
