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BrightVolt Raises $16 Million in Series B Funding Led by New Science Ventures and Caterpillar Venture Capital Inc.

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REDMOND, Wash., Oct. 06, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — BrightVolt, Inc., a global leader in the design, development, and manufacturing of safe, high energy and low cost solid-state Lithium-Ion batteries has successfully closed the first tranche of a $16M Series B financing round with significant investments by New Science Ventures (NSV) and Caterpillar Venture Capital Inc. (Caterpillar). Fresh funds will be utilized for development of larger form factor products targeting industrial electrification and e-mobility markets.

Caterpillar is supporting customers during the energy transition to a reduced-carbon future through investments in new products, technologies and services. The company currently offers battery-powered equipment for the mining, construction, energy and transportation industries and recently announced seven sustainability goals to achieve by 2030, including that 100% of Caterpillar’s new products through 2030 will be more sustainable than the previous generation.

“BrightVolt’s core polymer matrix electrolyte technology (PME®) has demonstrated a lot of promise in terms of its performance, and we’re excited to participate in this investment round,” said Jihad Salahuddin, Caterpillar Senior Investment Manager. “BrightVolt’s innovative approach to manufacture solid-state Lithium-Ion batteries, utilizing their PME® technology, is compatible with existing roll-to-roll Lithium-Ion manufacturing lines requiring very minor capital refinements, while achieving a considerable improvement in several performance metrics.”

“Caterpillar has a long-standing commitment to sustainability. We are excited to collaborate with them on developing next-generation, solid-state Lithium-Ion batteries as another step on their path to help customers achieve their climate-related objectives,” noted Todd Peters, CEO, Chairman.

The industrial battery market was estimated at $9.0B in 2020 and is anticipated to grow to $30.8B by 2030, registering a CAGR of 13.2% from 2021 to 2030.

“BrightVolt has taken a unique approach to developing a novel polymer solid-state electrolyte for Lithium-Ion batteries,” noted Somu Subramaniam, Managing Partner at NSV. “With a strong leadership team in place, the company is targeting commercialization of Lithium-Ion batteries utilizing its proprietary polymer electrolyte technology in several key applications that have realized their theoretical limitations with use of traditional Lithium-Ion batteries like e-mobility.”

Having already sold more than 15 million primary solid-state batteries globally, BrightVolt is now bringing truly novel advances to the rechargeable battery markets, making safe, high energy and low-cost solid-state batteries a reality. With a clear target set by the Biden administration for 50% of all new car sales in the United States to be electric vehicles by 2030, BrightVolt will have the ideal battery technology in place to power this mass adoption.

About New Science Ventures

New Science Ventures, LLC (NSV), is a leading venture capital firm focused on building companies that leverage breakthrough science to create extraordinary value. NSV invests in companies using science-based innovations to address market needs in Life Sciences and Technology sectors. For more information, visit https://www.newscienceventures.com/

About Caterpillar Venture Capital Inc.

Caterpillar Venture Capital Inc. assists entrepreneurs and startups around the world to grow and scale their businesses to build today for a better tomorrow by leveraging Caterpillar’s industry expertise, supply base, and independent dealer network. Caterpillar Venture Capital’s focus areas of investment include robotics, energy, advanced materials, and digital solutions that help its customers be successful. Caterpillar Venture Capital is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Caterpillar Inc., the world’s leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives. For more information, visit https://www.caterpillar.com

About BrightVolt, Inc.
BrightVolt’s mission is to improve the world through higher-performing battery chemistries. With a Research and Development Center in Indiana and corporate headquarters in Redmond, Washington, BrightVolt is constantly challenging the limits of chemistry, physics, and manufacturing science to support safer, healthier and more powerful new product innovations. BrightVolt’s Rechargeable solid-state batteries can power a broad range of applications including hybrid and electric vehicles as well as consumer electronics such as smartphones, laptops, e-readers, drones, medical and wearable devices along with other IoT products. To date, BrightVolt has sold over 15 million primary solid-state batteries with customers on every continent in a wide variety of industries including medical, automotive, industrial, and consumer products. For more information, visit https://www.brightvolt.com

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Company Contact:

Salil Soman

BrightVolt, Inc.

ssoman@BrightVolt.com

BrightVolt expands R&D group

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Newberry, Indiana.  –  BrightVolt is pleased to announce expansion to its R&D group both in terms of personnel as well as facilities and equipment.

As Covid cases continue to rise in the U.S, we are taking the utmost care to keep our team members safe and healthy while working at BrightVolt. Two new Phd. engineers have joined the BrightVolt Team – Dr. Joanna Burdynska and Dr. Ashok Saraswat. Dr. Burdynska is a highly accomplished polymer scientist with a distinguished career in battery development and numerous patents and publications to her name. She will be working with the Team on improving performance of the company’s Polymer Matrix Electrolyte (PME®) product. Dr. Saraswat has an extensive career both in battery technical development and also in business development and partnering in the battery industry. Dr. Saraswat will be assisting with the company’s co-development and partnering initiatives among other functions. Dr. Anaba Anani, the company’s Chief Battery Scientist commented “our talented R&D Team continues to grow and thrive. Our new hires bring new ideas and expanded scope to our technology development. This is key to forging ahead and improving our technology and products.”

In addition to adding personnel, BrightVolt has also made significant investments in facilities and equipment in Q4. As part of the company’s program of continuous improvement and expansion of its equipment resources, the company has added further battery testing and development equipment to its already extensive installed base at its R&D facilities in Indiana. Todd Peters, the company’s CEO commented “we invest significantly in improving and upgrading our equipment as a regular business process so that our R&D personnel have what they need to push forward with important technology developments. Battery technology development requires this kind of commitment as new materials and the science behind new materials integration evolves and grows more complex.” Peters continues “ we want our Team to be able to move quickly and take advantage of the new materials opportunities as they arise.”

BrightVolt continues to recruit for the best and brightest R&D personnel in the battery technology space. We are currently looking to hire a number of battery engineers and scientists. Please check our Employment page here: https://www.brightvolt.com/employment/

In spite of the pressures and complications associated with the current covid-19 pandemic, we would like to take this opportunity to wish our partners and business associates with good health and continued prosperity in these difficult times.

Tesla Battery Day

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Newberry, Indiana – Tesla held their much hyped “Battery Day” on September 22nd and announced some important areas of focus for the company in the coming years.  The big theme is driving battery costs down on a dollars per kilowatt hour basis using a multi-faceted approach involving a new  cell design, streamlined manufacturing, new anode and cathode materials, and integration of the battery pack into the car chassis structure.  Tesla’s recorded live streaming of the event can be found here:  https://www.tesla.com/2020shareholdermeeting

The net effect of these planned changes is a projected 56% drop in the cost of the batteries to about the $50/kWh range.  If Tesla achieves this in a time frame relevant to the projected rapid growth of the electric vehicle (EV) market then this will be truly revolutionary.  Such a drop in the battery cost structure could make EV’s begin to compete with internal combustion engine cars on a head-to-head cost basis.  According to Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, their ultimate goal is to be able to introduce a $25,000 EV car for mass production before getting too far into the 2020’s. 

“These are exactly the kind of incremental changes you would expect from a company with a lot of sophisticated streamlined engineering already going into its products and production methods” said Todd Peters, CEO of BrightVolt, Inc.  Peters continues “If Tesla can operationalize even half of what they’re promising here, the buyers of electric vehicles will benefit with more EV choices on a cost competitive basis approaching that of fossil fuel cars.”  Commenting upon the effects of these proposed changes on the battery supply chain, Peters said “there’s going to be some big winners and big losers in the evolving battery materials supply chain, but one thing is clear – anyone bringing to market battery materials or technology which knocks cost out of the equation is going to do well….very, very well.”

BrightVolt’s Chief Battery Scientist, Dr. Anaba Anani added “Tesla is pioneering some important technologies for the battery industry as a whole.  If successful, their dry coating technique along with the development of new cathode and anode materials could step change the entire manufacturing process for EV batteries.”

BrightVolt, Inc. develops and sells proprietary battery materials including a novel solid-state electrolyte – the “Polymer Matrix Electrolyte” (PME). This patented solid-state electrolyte significantly enhances the capabilities of lithium-based batteries while reducing the cost of manufacturing. The PME electrolyte can be used in batteries in a wide variety of applications including Internet of Things, consumer electronics and e-mobility. The PME allows for greater energy density, a wider operating temperature range, and increased levels of safety all at a lower total cost of manufacturing.

BrightVolt Appoints Dan Squiller to Board of Directors

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REDMOND, Wash., March 12, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — BrightVolt Inc., a global leader in the design, development, and manufacturing of safe, high energy and low cost solid-state lithium-ion batteries utilizing its proprietary single-phase polymer matrix electrolyte (PME®), announces the appointment of Dan Squiller to its Board of Directors. With more than 30 years of leadership experience in executive roles as well as technical expertise in energy storage technologies, Squiller will play a crucial role in guiding BrightVolt as it enters the next phase of technology development and commercialization.

Squiller is an established leader with notable expertise in technology commercialization and global market expansion, manufacturing facility setup, supply chain development, and technology and product development programs with automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers. As the CEO of Aquam Corporation, a global clean-tech firm, as well as success at recognized companies including Lambda, Invensys plc, Scientific Atlanta, St. Bernard Software, ZincFive, and Verengo Solar, Squiller has an impressive record of building and growing technology and infrastructure companies.

“Dan brings extensive technical and leadership experience in the energy storage industry to our Board of Directors,” said Todd Peters, CEO of BrightVolt. “As we move to the next stage of product development of our disruptive new lithium-ion battery products, Dan’s guidance will be invaluable to bring our products to the market and grow the company.”

“I’m very excited to join BrightVolt’s board and work with a company that is bringing innovative battery solutions to the electric vehicle (EV) and consumer electronics marketplace,” noted Dan Squiller. “I have seen and participated in the evolution of battery technology over the past 30 years, and BrightVolt is bringing truly innovative advances to the market; making high energy density, safe and affordable solid-state batteries a reality. Their patented polymer technology expands the performance and economic envelope of what was previously possible for lithium-ion batteries. I look forward to working with Todd and his leadership team.”

In addition, BrightVolt recently named industry veteran Salil Soman as vice president of business development. Soman has nearly two decades of experience with developing and commercializing multiple different battery chemistries in various applications and markets worldwide.

About BrightVolt

BrightVolt’s mission is to improve the world through smarter battery chemistry. With a state-of-the-art Research and Development Center in Indiana and corporate headquarters in Redmond, Washington, BrightVolt is constantly challenging the limits of chemistry, physics, and manufacturing science to support safer, healthier and more powerful new product innovations. BrightVolt’s rechargeable solid-state batteries can power a broad range of applications including hybrid and electric vehicles as well as consumer electronics such as smartphones, laptops, e-readers, drones, medical and wearable devices along with other IoT products. Compared to conventional lithium-ion batteries, BrightVolt’s patented Polymer Matrix Electrolyte (PME®) technology results in batteries with a significantly greater energy density that are cleaner, safer and more environmentally friendly, at a lower total cost of production. To date, BrightVolt has sold over 12 million batteries with customers on every continent in a wide variety of industries including medical, automotive, industrial, and consumer products.

SOURCE BrightVolt Inc.

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June 2018 Newsletter

By News

Hello BrightVolt Partners,

We have some exciting news to share as we head into the summer months.

We are currently executing on our mission to improve the world through smarter battery chemistry. Through our proprietary Polymer Matrix Electrolyte (PME®), our Solid-State batteries offer substantially greater energy density and thermal stability. When compared to best- selling liquid lithium-ion batteries, BrightVolt Solid-State Batteries (SSB) with PME® is the ideal alternative, particularly for customers in the consumer electronic and EV markets.

We are making great progress on the development of our solid-state rechargeable battery and these are some of the milestones we’ve achieved and more by the close of Q3:

  • We have demonstrated excellent energy density and cycling capability of our solid-state electrolyte PME chemistry at our new R&D facility
  • Our rechargeable Solid-State batteries are expected to debut end of Q3 2018 with a sampling of our 50mAh product line, larger cells are already in development as well.
  • We’ve added talented new battery scientists as well as new tools and equipment to augment the expansion and development capabilities for our rechargeable SSB and to increase our overall development and testing footprint.


Want to work on cutting edge Solid-State technologies for EVs? We are looking for a Senior Battery Design Engineer with industry experience. Send resume humanresources@brightvolt.com.  To view all job postings please see at link.

We will be delivering more exciting news in the next few months. Stay tuned.

Wishing you and your family a pleasant summer ahead.

The BrightVolt Team

BrightVolt expands R&D capabilities with new equipment

By News

In Q1 of 2018 BrightVolt added technical personnel and made a substantial investment in new equipment to enhance our solid state battery development. This will help us improve the energy density and performance of our new solid state rechargeable batteries. BrightVolt’s first rechargeable batteries are expected to debut in Q3 of this year.

Our new solid state rechargeable battery product line will benefit from a new Keyence Digital Microscope, a new Metrohm Microcell HD, an additional Arbin 128 channel battery test system, and a new Branson ultrasonic welder.

           

These additional capabilities will:

  • Help improve performance and energy density
  • Reduce development and testing times
  • Aid in ionic conductivity measurement and analysis
  • Assist in analyzing electrode surfaces
  • Help isolate failure mechanisms
  • Document short and long-term battery performance

 

Join our rechargeable update list to receive information on our rechargeable batteries.

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January Newsletter

By News

Happy New Year to our extended BrightVolt family!

The new year is here and we want to share a couple of the exciting changes at BrightVolt from 2017.  We will continue to hire and expand our capabilities in 2018 and deliver on our mission of providing the world’s thinnest, safest, most flexible thin film batteries and solutions!

BrightVolt has a new R&D Home – We have partnered with the Battery Innovation Center (BIC) in Newberry, Indiana (www.bicindiana.com).  “The BIC”, is a state of the art, $20m facility purpose build to support battery technology innovation. This will provide additional resources for:

  • Development of our new thin-film, RECHARGEABLE, solid state batteries, expected to debut in mid-2018.
  • Expansion of our design and development capabilities for custom batteries.
  • Increased testing capabilities to better serve existing and new customers.

In 2018, Brightvolt will provide custom designs and will continue to scale manufacturing for both our primary and secondary batteries. Look for more news on these topics in the near future.

You can always check our standard sizes and look for more information at www.brightvolt.com.

Good luck to all of our partners who brought incredible new products to market in 2017 and those who will accelerate that trend in 2018!

We look forward to delivering more exciting news in the next couple of months!

Best regards,

The Brightvolt team

BrightVolt Wins Best Eco-Friendly Battery Manufacturer Award

By News

Recognition for providing cleaner, safer battery energy

LAKELAND, Fla., Feb. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — BrightVolt Inc., the global leader in the design, development and scale manufacturing of the safest ultra-thin film, flexible batteries, was awarded the 2016 Clean Energy Award for best eco-friendly battery manufacturer. Created by Global Energy News magazine, the 2016 Clean Energy Awards recognize the development and implementation of clean energy solutions.

No Volatile Liquids Means Eco-Friendly Batteries

Unlike traditional lithium-ion batteries that use lithium electrolytes which can be flammable and toxic to the environment, BrightVolt batteries contain no volatile liquids. This patented chemistry makes BrightVolt batteries environmentally safe and minimizes the potential for spontaneous combustion events. BrightVolt batteries can withstand fluctuations in temperature and therefore be heated, custom-designed for use in new form factors, and even printed, without causing damage.

“It’s outstanding for BrightVolt to be recognized for delivering better batteries that are safer for the environment as well as safer for products that now contain potentially flammable materials,” said Todd Peters, BrightVolt CEO. “Our highly proprietary technology – BrightVolt PME® (Polymer Matrix Electrolyte) — also enables cleaner battery chemistry, battery safety, and manufacturing process all critical to sustainable energy.”

Meeting Global Demand for Safer Batteries

As IoT and wearable applications continue to expand, many designers and manufacturers, from Fortune 100 companies to startups, are working with BrightVolt to develop safer, smaller and more flexible batteries to power these devices. BrightVolt has already manufactured more than 10MM ultra-thin film batteries that are used in commercially viable products.

The 2016 Clean Energy Award also recognizes BrightVolt’s rigorous environmental sustainability policies that include commitments to developing products and processes that are safe and environmentally sound, and help preserve resources and the environment. Adherence to sustainability and safety is an integral part of BrightVolt’s ongoing goal to be recognized as a leader in clean energy development.

About Global Energy News
Published quarterly, Global Energy News features the latest deals, appointments, research, news and all you need to know about the latest developments in the energy sector. Industry experts in their field, government and think-tanks from around the world shed light on the issues that matter, with special sections on energy efficiency, infrastructure and technology, oil and gas, renewable energy.

About BrightVolt
BrightVolt is the world’s leader in the design, development and scale manufacturing of safe, ultra-thin film batteries. Our patented Lithium Polymer design allows our batteries to be the thinnest, most flexible and yet maintain the highest energy density to power a wide variety of IoT devices like medical patches, sensor labels and power cards. BrightVolt batteries are environmentally friendly, non-toxic, non- combustible and disposable.

For more information please visit www.BrightVolt.com.

BrightVolt Wins Best New Material Award from IDTechEx Recognizing safe, flexible, customizable BrightVolt batteries for the future of wearables and IoT

By Events

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Dec. 2, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — BrightVolt Inc., the global leader in the design, development and scale manufacturing of the safest ultra-thin film, flexible batteries, has won the Best New Material or Component
Development award from IDTechEx. BrightVolt was recognized at IDTechEx Show! 2016, an annual conference which brings together the latest emerging technologies with global end-user.

“We are extremely pleased and honored to have received this award for the Best New Material or Component Development,” said Todd Peters, BrightVolt CEO. “It is a privilege to work with such an exceptional team on developing safe, flexible, solid-state and customized batteries that are going to help revolutionize the next stage of wearables and IoT technologies. The IoT world needs better, safer batteries.”

Safer Battery Chemistry

The winning IDTechEx award submission, “BrightVolt, The Safest, Most Customized Battery for The Most Revolutionary Wearables,” states that as wearables continue to evolve in size, usability, form factor and diverse power needs, many designers and manufacturers are looking for better energy sources to power their new products.

Unlike lithium-ion batteries which contain a liquid chemistry that can be flammable, and toxic when exposed to the environment, BrightVolt batteries are solid-state and built using their patented battery technology BrightVolt PME® (Polymer Matrix Electrolyte). This technology breakthrough increases reliability, stability, and safety of the battery making them Non-CombustibleNon-ToxicNon-Corrosiveand Disposable.

Battery Innovation at Scale

The patented chemistry, development and manufacturing process, BrightVolt PME®, allows for more rapid development and a more cost effective approach to manufacturing at scale. This proprietary chemistry and manufacturing process has already been employed to manufacture more than 10 million BrightVolt ultra-thin film batteries and is used in commercial ready products.

About BrightVolt
BrightVolt is the world’s leader in the design, development and scale manufacturing of safe, ultra-thin film batteries. Our patented Lithium Polymer design allows our batteries to be the thinnest, most flexible and yet maintain the highest energy density to power a wide variety of IoT devices like medical patches, sensor labels and power cards. BrightVolt batteries are environmentally friendly, non-toxic, non- combustible and disposable. For more information please visit www.BrightVolt.com.