News

Metallic Power Secures $18.0 Million in Funding

October 31, 2000 by Jeff Shepard

Metallic Power (Carlsbad, CA) announced that it has closed its third round of venture capital funding, with $18.0 million in new investments and four new investors: Beacon Group Energy Funds, Cinergy Ventures LLC, Cominco Ltd. and Perseus LLC. This round of financing also saw the return of previous investors, including Nth Power, Arete Corporation, Hydro-Québec Capitech and Minnesota Power.

"We are extremely pleased with the level of interest from new investors and the vote of confidence from our original investors returning to participate in this round, as well as with the depth of experience that our new investors bring to Metallic Power," stated Dr. Jeffrey Colborn, president and CEO of Metallic Power. "Now that we have demonstrated working prototypes and achieved several key milestones, this round of financing will enable us to refine our technology and processes as we move towards commercialization of our products," Colborn added. "Current attention to energy costs and environmental concerns make the need for our technology more important than ever."

Metallic Power believes that it is their scientific and technological expertise that contributed the most to securing the $18.0 million of blue chip funding, which will advance the introduction of products based on Metallic Power's zinc-air fuel cell technology. The company will use the influx of capital to fund product development and acquire capital equipment as they move towards the manufacturing phase. The funding will also allow the firm to further expand its team of scientists and engineers. Previously, Metallic Power received $8.8 million from its first and second rounds of venture funding. The firm is scheduled to begin preliminary field trials during the next quarter, with continued prototype field-testing to begin later in 2001, and an initial product launch slated for 2002.