Thursday, September 6, 2012

ActaCell Merges With California Battery Startup

Austin-based ActaCell, the rechargeable battery developer based on Li-Ion battery technology developed at the University of Texas at Austin, has merged with a fellow advanced battery developer in California, Contour Energy Systems. The two announced the merger Wednesday afternoon. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Both are backed by venture capital, with ActaCell having received funding from DFJ Mercury, Good Energies, Applied Ventures and Google.org. Contour Energy Systems is backed by In-Q-Tel, SBI Jeffires ASia, CMEA Capital, Harris & Harris, Schlumberger and U.S. Venture Partners. The two said the move would help accelerate their technology to market. ActaCell was founded in 2007, and came out of the Material Sciences Program at the University of Texas at Austin.