NEWBERRY, Ind. (Inside INdiana Business) – Newberry-based startup Ateios has received $1.25 million in Series Seed funding, led by venture capital firm Good Growth Capital in South Carolina. The battery startup says it has developed the world’s first customizable, thin-film battery.
Ateios says the seed round will enable it to meet customer demand and scale its technology.
“The same way Moore’s Law for microchips has changed the world, the next generation of computing will be enabled by an acceleration in energy storage,” said Dr. Rajan Kumar, founder and chief executive officer of Ateios. “Technology keeps moving towards smaller and thinner devices for everyday use. The only thing stopping it is the battery.”
Ateios says its team has been working with Good Growth Capital virtually for the last six months to establish the relationship. Other investors include San Diego-based Keshif Ventures, Indianapolis-based Elevate Ventures, and HG Ventures, also in Indianapolis, among others.
The company says its patent pending manufacturing technique for thin-film batteries makes its manufacturing process 10 times faster and one-fifth of the capital cost compared to current battery manufacturing.
“Advances in batteries are becoming the key enabler for many industries: energy, medicine, transportation, ubiquitous computing,” said Holly. “Because Ateios’ breakthrough is streamlining the manufacturing process, rather than creating whole new battery chemistry, they can adapt their platform quickly for a wide range of existing applications. Their technology especially shines in small, flexible electronics applications that have been waiting for an innovation like this.”
Dr. Kumar and fellow graduate student, Carlos Munoz, founded Ateios while “conducting pioneering research in stretchable batteries at the University of California San Diego Jacob School of Engineering.”
The funding round comes shortly after Ateios received Phase I SBIR funding from the National Science Foundation and graduated from The Heritage Group Accelerator powered by Colorado-based Techstars.
Ateios relocated to the Battery Innovation Center located near Bloomington earlier this year. The company says it is working with the state of Indiana to locate its next facility to deliver even larger volumes.
NEWBERRY, Ind. (WISH) — A designer and developer of ultrathin film batteries announced plans Thursday to expand operations and create up to 30 high-wage jobs by 2020, state economic development officials said.
BrightVolt will expand to support its growing research and development operations at the Battery Innovation Center in Greene County adjacent to the Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division, which builds and develops ships and systems for the U.S. Navy.
The Redmond, Washington-based company, which launched its research and development partnership with the the center in August, anticipates being fully operational in its 5,000-square-foot space by the end of September, with plans to potentially triple its space at the BIC by late 2018 as it begins to manufacture new battery prototypes at the facility.
The Indiana Economic Development Corp. said it offered BrightVolt Inc. up to $200,000 in conditional tax credits and up to $175,000 in training grants based on the company’s job creation plans. The Regional Impact Fund of Radius Indiana provided additional incentives, the state said, and Greene County officials made infrastructure improvements.