Boston's latest battery developer, 24 m Technologies, will be launched at your typical start-up stage-
Up: Two founders of MIT, an experienced entrepreneur as CEO, Northbridge and Charles River venture capital provided $10 million in funding, and DOE provided $6 million
Oh, they have access to some of the emerging technologies originally developed at A123 Systems.
A123 believes that the technology is a mixture of lithium-ion batteries and so-called "mobile" batteries, too far away in Waltham to be a priority;
A123 chief executive David Vieau told an analyst conference call last week that it could take most of a decade to turn it into a product.
The 24-meter new company, which will be based in Cambridge, will initially focus on the utility's large battery system. (
For example, A123 has begun selling lithium-ion batteries to utilities that want to store the electricity generated by wind turbines, and then released during periods of strong power demand. )
A123 has equity in the new company and has a board seat for the intellectual property they contribute, but the company did not invest cash on the 24 th
Still mysterious is whether A123 has the right to buy the technology developed at 24 m or to buy any preferential options for the company itself.
"We have a business agreement with them and they choose not to talk about it [on their revenue phone]last week]
We 'd rather keep this way now, "Throop Wilder, CEO of 24 m Technologies, wrote in an emailmail.
Since the beginning of 2009, Wilder is an entrepreneur. in-
The residence of Charles River venture capital, which studies energy storage technology, he sees as "the next real big market ".
I talked to a lot of scientists working in this field and I was also introduced by Northbridge. " (Yet-
Jiang Ming in the picture above is a colleague
Founder of A123, Professor of Materials Science, MIT. )
Throop was a partner.
Founder of Safety start
Before that, the software company, the American internet company
Cisco bought it at $56 million.
The third founder of 24 m is W.
Craig Carter, another professor of materials science at MIT
Jiang said, "within A123, all kinds of technological innovations are emerging, and A123 will sit down and say in any case," If we think it may be of great significance, so what is the best way to commercialize it.
Many projects are developed internally, but in this particular case, after careful consideration, the final conclusion is that if we split it up, there will be great benefits in using private capital.
"When I asked Jiang if A123 had the ability to stop competitors from buying 24 m, he said it would, conceptually, but not more specific.
A professor at MIT is allowed to spend 20% of his time working in a commercial business, and Jiang plans to continue using the allowance, which he believes is at least 168 hours a week.
But he doesn't want to elaborate on how much time he will spend on A123 and 24 m.
The team will be primarily composed of scientists at this stage, Wilder said, "will expand to 10 to 20 people in the next six months, all of whom have a strong technical direction.
Jiang said, "24 m came out in an exercise. we took a clean piece of paper and asked, 'If you want to invent an ideal energy storage device for utility applications, what will it be?
We get the concept from a mobile battery similar to a fuel cell, but don't drain the exhaust gas.
We have studied all the overhead of materials and components in the battery, which cannot directly play the role of storing energy.
So essentially, we try to get the high energy density of the rechargeable battery without overhead, and reduce the complexity of the mobile battery and increase the energy density.
"There are a lot of places in the grid that can improve efficiency and reduce costs by adding some storage capacity," Jiang added . ".
Wilder said, "When you see applications in the power grid, such as reducing peak power [needs]
Or transfer congestion, or enable renewable energy, you need batteries that can last longer [
More than available today. ]
We're working on five. year out, next-
A long generation
Storage technology. . .
Simple system that can enter the subsystem
For example, there is a long time at the station in New York.
Duration Storage.
Jiang said: "Now that they have talked about the formation and funding of the company, we will return to the invisible state until we have the product.
"This is the official press release, and this is the CNET report on the company, which explains that the name 24 m comes from 24 molars teeth," the concentration level of active substances in the storage medium. "(
Last Thursday, we first reported on Twitter about the venture capital company funding company CEO 24 m and its contact with MIT. )