alarm:clock

Batteries - Monday, November 7, 2005

A123 Systems - Profile

Founded: 2001

HQ: Watertown, MA

Management: The company's Chairman is Desh Deshpande, who we recently profiled here. Dave Vieau is CEO. He was VP of Marketing and VP of Worldwide Business Development at American Power Conversion [NASDAQ: APCC].

Investors: A123 has raised $32M since its inception. Major shareholders include Motorola, Qualcomm, Sequoia Capital, North Bridge, YankeeTek, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and OnPoint Technologies.

Business Model: A123 has developed a new generation of Lithium-Ion batteries that uses proprietary nanoscale electrode technology developed at MIT. The company claims to deliver Deliver up to 10X Longer Cycle Life, 5X Power Gains and 5-Minute Charge Time. Applications include: power tools, hybrid electric vehicles, home appliances, electric drive systems, robotics, military equipment, medical devices. The company's first battery is now in production and being delivered to Black & Decker for use in a heavy-duty 36-volt power tool platform. A123 also says it is working with the U.S. Department of Energy as part of an undertaking to develop battery materials for future use in hybrid electric vehicles.

Competitors: Cymbet, Excellatron, Front Edge Technology, Infinite Power Technologies.

Dirt: It is just incredible that there are not more battery ventures given that there are so many devices where the Achilles' heal is power. It just must be a back-breaker to produce a substantially better power source. Take a look at some of tech's big men that are part of this company - including a board with Seqouia's Michael Moritz to Yankee Group founder Howard Anderson to Qualcomm's CEO Dr. Paul Jacobs - and yet get the sense that something big is going down in Watertown. These guys are smart enough to name the company so that it appears first in the phone book.