This Troy company is ready to bring its paper-thin batteries to market
Jan 20, 2016, 2:23pm EST
Chelsea Diana, Reporter Albany Business Review
Paper Battery Co. is preparing to put its ultrathin lithium batteries on the market as it heads toward full-scale production.
The Troy, New York, startup, which spun off of research at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has been working since 2008 to get its batteries to full-scale production.
“The product is in development and ready to go on the market,” said Shreefal Mehta, president and CEO of Paper Battery. “We’ve identified multiple customers in three or four vertical markets who are paying customers right now. We’re getting ready for first volume customer orders.”
Paper Battery develops ultrathin supercapacitor technology to improve batteries in cloud computing, medical technology and personal devices. Supercapacitors let companies use smaller batteries without compromising energy or performance. The paper-thin device helps lithium batteries last longer and charge quicker.
The technology was developed while Mehta was a professor at RPI after he was approached by scientists Dr. Om Nalamusu, Bob Linhart and Pulickel Ajayan to develop a paper-thin battery.
The company began selling a $400 fast charge developers kit last year so potential customers could test Paper Battery’s product line. Mehta said Paper Battery is starting a fundraising round to finance that last leg needed to get to full-volume production and increase sales. After that round, he expects the company to be cash positive.
The first product on the market is used in the cloud computing and industrial and medical application industries. The second product, which was the inspiration for the company, is used in mobile, wearable and the Internet of Things devices.
The company has raised more than $7.5 million in previous funding rounds in private investment, including from angel groups in upstate New York like the Eastern New York Angels and the Seed Capital Fund of Central New York. Other investors include Caerus Ventures in West Palm Beach, Florida, and TYLT Lab in Santa Monica, California.
Chelsea Diana covers technology and money