Boston-Power Pulls In $60M More to Push Battery Technologies Into Electronics, Cars, and Utilities

One of New England’s most prominent cleantech companies is making strides today in a very active field. Westborough, MA-based Boston-Power, a maker of advanced lithium-ion batteries and energy storage technologies, says it has raised $60 million in Series E growth equity funding, co-led by existing investors Foundation Asset Management and Oak Investment Partners. Previous investors Venrock and Gabriel Venture Partners also participated in the new round, which brings Boston-Power’s total funding to $185 million since it was founded in 2005.

The company says the money will be used to expand into international markets, ramp up production of its battery technologies, and strengthen its sales, marketing, operations, and engineering team, especially in the Boston area. Boston-Power now has about 100 employees in Massachusetts and some 500 workers and consultants worldwide. So it caught my ear when I heard the company is now planning to double in size over the next two to three years.

“This is a pretty happy day for us,” said Christina Lampe-Onnerud, Boston-Power’s CEO and founder. “It’s been a very interesting journey.”

Indeed, the road to building a better battery is a long and winding one. But battery design—and energy storage in general—is becoming increasingly important in markets ranging from consumer electronics to transportation to power grid management. Boston-Power’s main innovation is in the chemistry and engineering of lithium-ion batteries that are safer, more reliable, longer-lasting, and more eco-friendly than the status quo. Other companies working in the lithium-ion battery sector include A123 Systems (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AONE]]) in the Boston area, ActaCell in Texas, Sakti3 in Michigan, Mobius Power in California, and Korea’s LG Chem and Techno Semichem (which both have U.S. operations in the Detroit area).

Boston-Power’s strategy has been to break into established markets with a new technology—and that takes time and money. First, the company established itself in consumer electronics, forming partnerships with companies like Hewlett-Packard to provide batteries for notebook computers. Next, it moved into transportation with electric and hybrid vehicles, inking deals with automakers like

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Author: Gregory T. Huang

Greg is a veteran journalist who has covered a wide range of science, technology, and business. As former editor in chief, he overaw daily news, features, and events across Xconomy's national network. Before joining Xconomy, he was a features editor at New Scientist magazine, where he edited and wrote articles on physics, technology, and neuroscience. Previously he was senior writer at Technology Review, where he reported on emerging technologies, R&D, and advances in computing, robotics, and applied physics. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Nature, and The Atlantic Monthly’s website. He was named a New York Times professional fellow in 2003. Greg is the co-author of Guanxi (Simon & Schuster, 2006), about Microsoft in China and the global competition for talent and technology. Before becoming a journalist, he did research at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. He has published 20 papers in scientific journals and conferences and spoken on innovation at Adobe, Amazon, eBay, Google, HP, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other organizations. He has a Master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.