Aquion Energy, Inc., a Pittsburgh-based developer and manufacturer of innovative batteries and energy storage systems, has closed a $30m venture financing.
The round was led by Foundation Capital, with participation from existing investor Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and new backers Advanced Technology Ventures (ATV) and TriplePoint Capital.
The company intends to use the funds to launch its first products and begin to scale globally.
Led by CEO Scott Pearson, Aquion is designing and manufacturing a sodium-ion, aqueous electrolyte battery designed to enhance the electrical grid by providing flexible, emissions-free capacity that optimizes existing generation assets and enables broad adoption of renewable energy technologies. The company’s battery, which are based on the research of Carnegie Mellon University Professor Jay Whitacre, are designed to minimize cell and system costs and improve performance over existing technologies. They contain no hazardous materials, corrosive acids or noxious fumes.
In the fall of 2011 Aquion will begin shipping its first pre-production energy storage systems to external testing facilities and selected strategic partners. It is also in the process of identifying and selecting a site for its first high volume factory in the United States, which is expected to become operational in 2013.
In conjunction with the funding, Steve Vassallo of Foundation Capital and Bill Wiberg of ATV have joined Aquion’s board of directors.
Previously, the company had also been supported with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy.
FinSMEs
07/09/2011