Funding Roundup: First Deals of the New Year. Lithium Battery Maker Boston Power Raises $125 Million. This is an archived story. The information and any links may no longer be accurate. Boston Power, Inc., a maker of lithium-ion batteries, today announced $125 million in new funding because of its strategy to focus predominantly on China. The Massachusetts-based comany plans to build a manufacturing facility in China that will be capable of producing 400 megawatt hours (MWh) of lithium-ion battery cells annually by the end of 2012. In addition, the company will establish a R&D and EV battery engineering facility in China. The Chinese government is providing a range of grants, low-interest loans and related financial and tax incentives. The private equity portion of the funding round was led by GSR Ventures, which invests primarily in early stage and growth stage technology companies with substantial operations in China.
Existing investors Oak Investment Partners and Foundation Asset Management (FAM) also participated in the round. Boston-Power Wins $125M From VCs, China for EV Batteries. Rumors of the death of greentech investing would seem to be exaggerated. Boston-Power, a Westborough, Mass. -based lithium-ion battery startup, just raised $125 million in one of this year's largest VC funding rounds. (In the last few weeks, HelioVolt raised $50 million, Bloom Energy raised $150 million, and ClearEdge raised $73.5 million.)
That brings Boston-Power's VC total to more than $300 million since it was founded in 2005. The round was led by GSR Ventures, a VC firm with operations in China and offices in Beijing and Silicon Valley. Existing investors Oak Investment Partners and Foundation Asset Management also invested in the round. I spoke with the enthusiastic founder, Dr. That entails building a factory in China capable of producing 400 megawatt-hours of batteries or 18 million units of the "matchbox-sized" prismatic lithium-ion cells. Boston Power concentrates on familiar lithium cobalt chemistry, the same battery chemistry found in notebook cells.
Lithium Ion Battery Baby Steps: A 3-Year-Warranty Laptop Battery. Boston-Power building battery-making site in Auburn. Westborough-based advanced lithium ion battery maker Boston-Power Inc. announced this morning that it plans to build a 455,000 square foot manufacturing facility in Auburn, at the site of a former Filene’s Basement warehouse. The facility, which officials said is expected to be running at full capacity in three years, could add as much as 600 new jobs to the region, while adding 2,000 more “indirectly through the extended supply chain,” according to company statements. The new facility will be responsible for making batteries for the company’s laptop computer battery line -- dubbed the Sonata -- as well as products for plug-in hybrid vehicles and other applications. Boston-Power is expected to unveil its plans at a ceremony later today that will be attended by state officials, including Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, Congressman Jim McGovern, Lieutenant Governor Tim Murray and Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Ian Bowles.
Will Consumers Shell Out $150 for A Green Laptop Battery? — Cleantech News and Analysis. HP Offers Laptop Batteries With Three-Year Life Span - Hardware - Desktops/PCs. Hewlett-Packard on Monday started offering as an accessory to its consumer laptops batteries that can hold their capacity for the lifetime of the computer. HP is offering batteries based on Boston-Power's Sonata lithium-ion technology for 18 existing laptop models, representing about 70% of HP's consumer notebook portfolio. The batteries, which cost $150, will be available under HP's Enviro brand. Boston-Power claims its batteries won't give up their capacity for three years, which is threefold the time for most other laptop batteries. In addition, the company claims the devices can recharge faster, reaching 80% of capacity in 30 minutes. HP is offering a three-year warranty with the Enviro batteries, which amounts to the life of the laptop and about three times the warranty offered on most other batteries.
HP plans to offer this month Boston-Power batteries as a point-of-sale option for consumers buying laptops through HP's Web site. Boston Power To Build Battery Factory in Massachusetts. This is an archived story. The information and any links may no longer be accurate. Lithium-ion battery maker Boston-Power, Inc., today announced it plans to build its first U.S. manufacturing facilities in Auburn, Massachusetts. The facility is expected to create 600 new energy storage jobs. The company also unveiled a battery built for Plug-in Hybrid and Battery Electric Vehicles (PHEV/BEV)--called Swing. The company currently manufactures batteries for electronics in China. With support from Massachusetts officials, Boston-Power is seeking approximately $100 million under the U.S. The company is also pursuing funds through a proposed program allocation in the FY10 federal budget under the Defense Production Act, which encourages the building of manufacturing facilities in the United States that are important for national security reasons.
Boston-Power said it selected the Auburn site based on proximity to its headquarters. Boston-Power in March established itself as the first U.S. Boston-Power Strikes Deal with Hewlett-Packard to Market Longer-Lived, Eco-Friendly Laptop Batteries. Wade Roush12/10/08 After raising $70 million in venture funding and spending more than three years on the development of next-generation lithium-ion batteries, Westborough, MA-based Boston-Power has won its first big customer: It’s the supplier behind a new line of replacement laptop batteries from Hewlett-Packard. Branded as the “HP Enviro Series” but based entirely on Boston-Power’s Sonata technology, the batteries incorporate advances in design and chemistry that will allow them to be recharged much faster than conventional laptop batteries—and that will keep them from losing their capacity to store power over time, the way older lithium-ion cells do.
The Enviro batteries be available from HP early next year, and will have the same form factor as current HP laptop batteries, meaning they can be slipped directly into existing HP laptops. That will make Boston-Power the first U.S. Wade Roush is Xconomy's chief correspondent and editor of Xconomy San Francisco. Boston-Power batteries to ship with HP PCs. Boston-Power Inc.¹s first lithium-ion batteries will ship with Hewlett-Packard Co.'s new line of environmentally-friendly laptops. The deal announced Wednesday is the culmination of years of talks between the Westborough, Mass., battery maker and Palo Alto, Calif. -based HP (NYSE: HPQ). The laptop maker will offer Boston-Power¹s Sonata battery as an add-on option to its new Enviro line of laptops in early 2009.
"After three years in this business we are arriving at the gate of shipments," said Christina Lampe-Onnerud, founder and CEO of Boston-Power, in an interview Tuesday. "Boston-Power has been working with HP for three years...It's pretty cool that they are the first to ship. " The company would not disclose how many batteries it plans to ship as a part of the deal, but Onnerud suggested that plans are in the works with various computer manufacturers for the Sonata battery to be integrated into a standard notebook configuration. HP To Offer Startup's Longer-Lasting Battery - Hardware - Desktops/PCs. Hewlett-Packard will be the first computer maker to offer startup Boston Power's longer-lasting battery in laptops, the companies said Wednesday.
Called Sonata, the lithium-ion battery can withstand up to three years of recharging before losing its maximum capacity, according to Boston Power. Most batteries used today have a lifespan of about half that much. In addition, the battery recharges in only 30 minutes, which is much faster than traditional laptop batteries, and is less likely to overheat. HP has worked with Boston Power for three years to bring the battery to HP consumer laptops. HP plans to offer Sonata batteries under the Enviro brand as an option on select notebooks starting early next year. The batteries will come with a three-year warranty; the longest available from any laptop maker, according to HP.
Current users of HP laptops will also have the option of buying the new batteries as replacements. Battery performance has always been a weakness in laptops. Energy, biotech help lead huge Q4 VC fundings. Two New England companies were among the 15 largest venture-backed investments in the nation during the fourth quarter 2007, a period in which the total value of deals reached its highest level since 2001, a new report shows. The $45 million financing of Westborough's Boston-Power Inc. was nationally the ninth-largest investment of the quarter, and the $37 million financing of Branford, Conn.'s Optherion Inc. ranked No. 15, according to the report by Dow Jones VentureSource.
New England companies reported 44 financings during the fourth quarter while both the volume of deals and their sizes surged nationally, fueled by investments in biopharmaceutical, medical devices and energy-related companies, Dow Jones officials said. "It's clear that U.S. venture capitalists are eager to back innovative technologies that will better our lives through improved health, lower energy costs and a cleaner environment," said Dow Jones' director of global research Jessica Canning. Boston-Power nets $45 million in latest funding round.
Jackie Noblett Journal staff Lithium ion battery maker Boston-Power Inc. has closed a $45 million Series C round of funding, led by Oak Investment Partners. This latest round also included existing investors Venrock Associates, Granite Global Ventures and Gabriel Venture Partners. To date, Boston-Power has raised $68 million in funding. The company is looking to use this fresh funding to ramp up manufacturing capability for its Sonata laptop computer battery, as well as expand its sales and marketing reach in the competitive Asian market.
"We received a warm reception by our customers and we thought it would be wise to scale up quicker," said Boston-Power CEO Christina Lampe-Onnerund. The company manufactures most of its batteries in Taiwan, but has also inked a deal with GP batteries in China. Boston-Power, founded in 2005 by Lampe-Onnerund, produces batteries for the portable computer market, which research firm IDC reported 37 percent growth in the third quarter of 2007. Boston-Power expands laptop battery production | Hardware. Battery making startup Boston Power is more than tripling production of its Sonata laptop battery, a device that offers faster charging and longer life than conventional lithium-ion batteries, it is due to announce Thursday. Boston Power has also struck a manufacturing partnership with Taiwan's GP Batteries, which will begin making the cells to supplement current production at China's HYB Battery.
GP will produce around 1 million cells per month, said Christina Lampe-Onnerud, founder and CEO of Boston Power. HYB currently produces between one third and one half that amount, she said. The Sonata battery was a hit when it was unveiled at the Demo 2007 conference in January 2007 because, according to Boston-Power, it gets over some of the main frustrations laptop users have with their battery packs. In light of a series of high-profile problems and recalls of lithium-ion batteries, Boston-Power is also pushing safety. "We are delighted with the response from the market. Westborough start-up gets jump-start. Westborough start-up Boston-Power yesterday raised $45 million in venture funding and disclosed a new partnership that will allow the company to make up to a million of its lithium-ion laptop batteries a month. With the worldwide market for power-hungry laptops projected to outpace demand for desktops by 2009 by analyst firm IDC, the company sees a big market opportunity for its laptop batteries, which have a longer life cycle than today's batteries, lasting "like-new" for three years rather than fading after six months.
"Whether we like it or not, portable electronics are coming into our daily life . . . and the battery is really the number one complaint in all those markets" because they don't last long enough or recharge quickly enough, said Christina Lampe-Onnerud, chief executive of Boston-Power. The firm, which has 40 employees in Massachusetts, will hire more people this year. "I think the question is, how do you generate demand or awareness of these features? " Carolyn Y.
Mass. cleantech-VC deals down in Q3, Boston-Power excepted. Kyle Alspach, Boston Business Journal Apart from battery maker Boston-Power Inc., just 10 Massachusetts cleantech companies were able to find venture capital deals during the third quarter, together raising $51 million, the Cleantech Group reported Wednesday.
A total of $176 million in cleantech VC was raised in Massachusetts during the quarter, but $125 million of that went to Westborough-based Boston-Power in September. That compares to the second quarter, when 22 Massachusetts companies raised $200.6 million in cleantech VC, according to the Cleantech Group. Subtracting that quarter’s top deal, the $54.5 million round for General Compression Inc., Bay State cleantech companies pulled in $146.1 million raised in the second quarter. Massachusetts also won’t be able to claim Boston-Power for much longer.
The company said last month it plans to move its headquarters, along with some of its research and development, to China in the near future. Boston-Power names industry vet Schmid as CEO. Keith Schmid, CEO of Boston-Power Inc. Article updated as of 3:25 p.m., Feb. 3, 2011. Advanced battery maker Boston-Power Inc. has named a power industry veteran as CEO to replace the company’s founder, Christina Lampe-Onnerud. The Westborough-based company, which has received $191.4 million in venture capital, said Thursday it has named Keith Schmid as its new chief executive. He comes to the company from Virginia-based Power Distribution Inc., a provider of electricity distribution equipment and services, where he was president and CEO. Lampe-Onnerud, a native of Sweden who founded Boston-Power in 2005, is now serving as executive chairman of the company. “I think it’s actually an opportunity to do what made me start the company in the first place, to drive global deployment of energy storage and to be an innovator in that space,” Lampe-Onnerud said in an interview.
Boston-Power is a producer of lithium ion batteries for computers, electric vehicles and other applications. Technology.