News

Zinc Matrix Gets $7 Million for Silver-Zinc Battery Development

April 16, 2006 by Jeff Shepard

Zinc Matrix Power, Inc. announced today it has received a $7 million investment to establish and staff a pilot production facility in Camarillo, California. Existing investors including a large private equity group, Intel Capital, and OnPoint Technologies provided the latest round of funding.

Zinc Matrix Power will use the funds to continue moving its new high energy density, Silver Polymer® battery towards full-scale production for military and consumer electronics applications. The company currently is testing product with the U.S. Army and will release product later this year for notebook computer testing.

"We are rapidly advancing our product technology to deliver extended runtime and enhanced safety features which traditional lithium-ion batteries can't provide," said Dr. Ross Dueber, president and CEO of Zinc Matrix Power. "Our new Zinc Matrix Power battery is projected to deliver as much as two-times the energy in a similar volume as current lithium-ion batteries, while being substantially safer to operate due to our lithium-free, water-based chemistry," said Dueber. "The continued support by our existing investors, which brings the company's total investment to $32 million since founding, shows the tremendous interest the market has in Zinc Matrix Power battery technology."

In conjunction with the recent investment, the company named Steve Shane, managing director, U.S. Federal Practice for Accenture to its board of directors. "We are excited to have someone with Steve's stellar reputation and experience join our board," stated Arthur N. Budge, Jr., chairman of Zinc Matrix Power.

As president of Accenture's $900 million per year business unit serving the U.S. Government, Shane oversees a workforce of approximately 3,000 who work with a variety of U.S. Government segments including most all of the cabinet level departments.

Prior to this role, he was the Global Director for Accenture's Credit Excellence Service Line – a global division within Accenture's banking industry group. Mr. Shane received a B.S. degree in Mathematics from Westminster College in 1978 and an MBA from Southern Methodist University in 1981.