Advanced Electron Beams (AEB) of Wilmington, MA, has boosted its “green” credentials with technology that enables industry to sterilize or cure products without the energy costs and chemical waste of other solutions. General Electric (NYSE:[[ticker:GE]]) says it likes how AEB’s energy-efficient electron beam emitters complement GE’s “ecomagination” initiative to use more clean technologies, and now GE Energy Financial Services has become a backer of AEB with a $4 million venture investment, AEB announced today.
AEB’s emitters are designed to shoot electrons at high speeds for such industrial applications as sterilizing containers and breaking down volatile organic compounds to purify air. The startup says its emitters require a fraction of the energy and physical space needed by earlier generations of the technology. GE is among 11 Fortune 100 companies that have implemented its technology, which can replace chemical and thermal processes, AEB says. In fact, AEB’s business model is to find partners such as GE to apply and market its electron beam technology in specific industries, essentially positioning AEB as a provider of platform technology upon which other firms build products.
AEB’s leadership includes a mix of tech veterans, and the makeup of its board reflects most of the firm’s previous VC investors such as Atlas Venture, General Catalyst Partners, and Rockport Capital Partners. The firm says it has raised a total of $36 million in two rounds of VC financing; GE’s investment is part of a $6 million “B+” round that also included Agman Partners.
