Lithium-Ion Battery Maker Sakti3 Gets $4.2 Million from GM, Itochu to Speed Up Commercialization Efforts
Erin Kutz9/10/10Comments (2)Follow @erkutz
Sakti3, an Ann Arbor, MI-based lithium-ion battery maker, announced today that it has brought in $4.2 million from General Motors Ventures and Itochu Technology Ventures to put toward the manufacturing and commercialization of its battery cells.
Sakti3 was co-founded by Ann Marie Sastry, a University of Michigan engineering professor, in 2007, and is working on high performance solid state batteries. Last year, Sakti3 entered an agreement with GM to study vehicle integration challenges from high-tech batteries.
“These investments by General Motors Ventures and Itochu Technology Ventures bring us not only capital, but partnerships that will speed our commercialization efforts,” CEO Sastry (also a Detroit Xconomist) said in the company announcement of the deal today.
The newest financing brings the company’s funding pot to more than $16 million, which includes a $7 million Series B round Sakti3 wrapped up this spring, from Menlo Park, CA-based Khosla Ventures and Beringea, Michigan’s largest venture capital firm. The startup has also received funding from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, earning it the designation as a Michigan Center of Energy Excellence, and has gotten tax incentives at the state level.
Erin Kutz is an Associate Editor for Xconomy. You can reach her by e-mail at ekutz@xconomy.com or by phone at (617) 252-0700, or follow her on Twitter at @erkutz.
Judy Kelly
9/13/10 6:45 am
I would like to know how to get an application for a job at the Lithium Battery Plant in Livonia Michigan.
Please email me with your answer.
Thank you,
Judy Kelly