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PRESS RELEASES
POLYFUEL INC. SECURES $15.6
MILLION FINANCING
Ventures West Leads Second Round
Menlo Park,
CA – July 25, 2002 – PolyFuel Inc., developer of
a direct methanol fuel cell for mobile applications, announced
today it has secured $15.6 million in its second round of
financing. The financing round, led by Vancouver based Ventures
West, included Chrysalix Energy LP, Intel Capital, Mayfield,
and Technology Partners.
Even in this difficult funding environment, PolyFuel generated
a high level of interest among top-tier investors. This financing
round includes recognized venture capital funds from both
the U.S. and Canada. PolyFuel's President and CEO, Gregg Semler
sees these investors providing the resources and expertise
needed to attract partners and customers to the company's
proprietary technology.
“We had very clear objectives when we set out to raise this
round of money and I am delighted to have achieved them with
this group of investment and industry leaders. Together, we
can build PolyFuel into a major player in next generation
power systems for consumer electronic devices,” says Semler.
PolyFuel’s innovative technology is designed to dramatically
improve the run time of next generation laptop computers,
wireless phones, and PDAs. A spin-off of SRI International,
the company has developed an inexpensive fuel cell that will
satisfy the increasing power needs of these portable electronic
devices offering significantly longer run times and instant
recharge.
“We believe PolyFuel has the potential to be a dominant player
in this multi-billion dollar industry,” says David Berkowitz,
Vice President of Ventures West, a prominent investor in the
fuel cell sector. “PolyFuel’s technology and management team
stand-out in the portable fuel-cell arena.”
“We are thrilled with the quality of the new investors,” adds
David Ladd, General Partner with Mayfield and an investor
in PolyFuel’s first round of financing. “Closing a financing
in this environment solidifies PolyFuel’s leadership position
in the emerging fuel cell market for mobile devices.”
The company concurrently announced that David Berkowitz has
joined PolyFuel’s Board of Directors, which includes Grant
Heidrich, Gregg Semler and Larry Dubois of SRI.
About PolyFuel Inc.:
PolyFuel develops micro fuel cells using its proprietary direct
methanol fuel cell technologies that will replace lithium
ion batteries for laptops and mobile phones. The company’s
rich intellectual property portfolio includes more than a
decade of know-how, patents and trade secrets relating to
fuel cell components, systems and high-volume manufacturing
processes. The company is located in Menlo Park, California.
About Ventures West:
Ventures West is a privately held venture capital investment
group that invests in early stage technology companies across
North America from offices in Vancouver, Toronto and Ottawa.
Since its founding in 1968, Ventures West has invested over
$400 million in more than 150 companies. Ventures West has
the people, the expertise, and the capital to develop emerging
technology companies into market leaders. Examples of Ventures
West portfolio companies in Power Technology include Ballard
Power Systems, AstroPower Inc., Cellex Power Products, QuestAir
Technologies Inc. and Angstrom Power Inc. For more information,
visit www.ventureswest.com.
About Chrysalix Energy:
Chrysalix Energy Limited Partnership is an early-stage private
venture capital firm focusing on the fuel cell industry and
is a joint venture between Ballard Power Systems, BASF Venture
Capital, The BOC Group, Shell Hydrogen and Westcoast Energy
(now Duke Energy). Operating independently, Chrysalix offers
a unique value proposition to its start-up clients throughout
the business planning, start-up and operations phases of development.
Chrysalix provides early-stage funding to new companies as
well as management assistance, technological knowledge, organized
networking with industry players and experience in the management
of intellectual property. For more information, visit www.chrysalix.com.
About Intel Capital:
Intel Capital, Intel’s strategic investment program, focuses
on making equity investments and acquisitions to grow the
Internet economy in support of Intel’s strategic interests.
Intel Capital invests in hardware, software and services companies
in several market segments, including computing, networking,
and wireless communications. For more information, visit www.intel.com/capital.
About Mayfield:
Mayfield provides Venture Capital with Impact and creates
next-generation technology companies in communications and
enterprise software. Since Mayfield’s founding in 1969, the
firm has invested in more than 430 companies and has taken
approximately 115 companies public. Examples of Mayfield’s
legacy IMPACT companies include: Advent Software; Citrix Systems;
Redback Networks; 3Com, Tibco and webMethods. For more information,
visit www.mayfield.com.
About Technology Partners:
Technology Partners teams with visionary entrepreneurs to
build successful companies in our focus areas of next generation
enterprise software, energy technology, biotechnology and
medical devices. Founded in 1980 as a private venture capital
firm, Technology Partners currently manages more than $400
million of investment capital. Investments are being made
currently from Technology Partners Fund VII, L.P., formed
in 2000 with approximately $250 million of capital. For more
information, visit www.technologypartners.com.
For More Information:
Gregg Semler
PolyFuel Inc.
Menlo Park, CA
(650) 859-3067
David Berkowitz
Ventures West Management Inc.
Tel (604) 891-3266
Fax (604) 687-2145
dberkowitz@ventureswest.com
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