The funding will also be used to relocate Skeleton Technologies Research Center to a state of the art facility in Tartu, Estonia.

Full press release available here and below:

Ultracapacitor Manufacturer Skeleton Technologies Raises €2,2 Million in Round A Financing

Skeleton Technologies, manufacturer of next generation ultracapacitors, increases production capacity fuelled by a disruptive competitive advantage and €2,2 million investment round.

Berlin, Germany (PRWEB) April 16, 2013 — Skeleton Technologies, manufacturer of industry-disrupting ultracapacitors, which have four times higher power densities and up to two times higher energy densities than the closest competitors, closes a €2.2 million Round A financing lead by Up Invest, an Estonian private equity investor.

The financing will be used to meet increasing demand for high performance energy storage solutions. SkelCap ultracapacitors, which have a power density of 80 kW/L and energy density of 14 Wh/L, represent the single biggest increase in ultracapacitor performance of the last two decades.

Skeleton Technologies CEO Mr Taavi Madiberk explained: ‘Combining superior energy and power density in a robust design has attracted several high-profile customers. Skeleton ́s customer list already includes the European Space Agency and several US and European Tier 1 automotives.’

‘The competitive advantage not only enables to upgrade a variety of energy storage solutions by replacing our competitors’ products, but also pushes the boundaries and creates a market for novel applications in the space and defence segment’, Madiberk added.

SkelCap Ultracapacitors – Green and Cost-Efficient

Skeleton Technologies ́ ultracapacitors will solve crucial energy storage problems with a green, environmentally friendly and cost-effective solution by recapturing braking energy and providing peak and back-up power to increase energy efficiency in a variety of applications, ranging from automotive start-stop systems for conserving fuel to windmill pitch control for more efficient renewable energy generation. Ultracapacitors’ ability to release stored energy in a matter of milliseconds and a 99% ultimate efficiency rate with a lifespan of over 20 years and 1 million charge/discharge cycles in a wide temperature range, make them ideal substitutes or complementing devices for batteries.

Margus Linnamäe of UP Invest commented that they had been looking for an investment in energy storage and Skeleton Technologies immediately caught their eye. What set the company apart is the proprietary technology based on carbide-derived carbon, which enables nanotuning the material for superior performance.

According to Linnamäe, Skeleton Technologies’ competitive advantage is two-fold: higher power and energy density allows to use up to two to four times smaller and lighter cells for the same application; this also means less materials being used in manufacturing, which will in perspective translate to cost savings for customers. He added: ‘Skeleton Technologies’ driven management team and unrivalled technological advantage represents a disruptive opportunity in the energy sector’s most viable market segment that will pass the $1 billion threshold next year.’

Skeleton Technologies plans to harness the growing momentum and use the financing to develop the company’s supply-line and global sales and deliveries. ‘With a new R&D location in Tartu, Estonia and manufacturing in Dresden, Germany, Skeleton is well positioned to further develop the technology and start meeting demand for high performance energy storage’, said Oliver Ahlberg, the COO of the company.

Additional information:

* Skeleton Technologies’ homepage: http://www.skeletontech.com/

* SkelCap-series data sheets: http://www.skeletontech.com/products/ultracapacitors/

About Skeleton Technologies:

Skeleton Technologies is a manufacturer of advanced carbon materials and industry-leading ultracapacitors for use in the automotive, transportation, industrial and renewable energy markets. Skeleton Technologies’ ultracapacitors have two to four times higher energy and power densities than other similar devices on the market and provide crucial peak or back-up power in a variety of applications, ranging from automotive start- stop systems for conserving fuel to windmill pitch control for more efficient renewable energy generation.

About Up Invest:

Up Invest is a private equity investor that has business interests in various industries including real estate, distribution of medical equipment and supplies, rehabilitation and other medical services, production of probiotic pet food etc. Up Invest has headquarters in Tallinn, Estonia and operations in Estonia and Lithuania.

Contact Information

CEO: Taavi Madiberk

taavi.madiberk@skeletontech.com

+37253542387

COO: Oliver Ahlberg

oliver.ahlberg@skeletontech.com

+3725023879

In the presentation titled “Ultracapacitors and Customer Requirements: Shift in Farad-driven Paradigm”, Mr. Madiberk will discuss moving on from the dated Farad-based approach in choosing suitable ultracapacitors. He will offer a perspective suggesting customers to rather look at specific performance metrics like power and energy densities, when evaluating ultracapacitors.

The presentation will be held on 18.04.2013 at 09:50AM. For more information, please visit http://www.idtechex.com/supercapacitors-europe/sc.asp

Mr. Madiberk will be discussing issues relating to startups in the energy sector alongside with Mr. Sandor Liive, the CEO of Enefit, is the world leader oil shale to energy company, Dr. Peter Hill, Non-Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors at Triangle Petroleum and others. The panel will be titled “Opportunities in Energy / Small Scale Energy Startups”.

For more information, please visit http://mitgsw.org/

Skeleton Technologies’ CEO Mr Taavi Madiberk noted that the company currently stands alone in the Ultracapacitor 2.0 category since rivals such as NanoTune, Graphene Energy, and others with promising materials technology, have not yet been able to reach production status. “Manufacturers of conventionally-activated carbon ultracapacitors, like the market leader Maxwell Technologies, NessCap or Ioxus, are unable to compete with the three-times increase in power density and two-times increase in energy density – the single largest breakthrough in an ultracapacitor product.”

“Improvements in energy storage are usually marginal and time-consuming,” Mr Madiberk added. “For example, in January this year, Ioxus heralded a 12 per cent increase in power density, which was over two-times higher than the 5 per cent power density increase target set by European transportation companies. In contrast, SkelCap has exceeded the 5 per cent target by 60 times.”

The secret behind the breakthrough Ultracapacitor 2.0 devices is the patented carbide-derived carbon SkeletonC™ material, which enables the modification of pore size and structure on a single nanometer level. The surface of the carbon particles contains larger pores than the inside of the particles which allows increased access to nanopores by the liquids, in turn raising the energy density. On the other hand, low internal resistance of the nanostructured material raises the power density.

This has allowed Skeleton Technologies to raise the energy density to 10 Wh/kg and the power density to more than 40 kW/kg. Mr Madiberk commented on the focus of the company for the coming years: “Skeleton Technologies is firstly aimed at the high-end defence and space sector where the extra performance gives our customers a significant advantage over the competition. Starting with rocket launchers and ending with electromagnetic weapons, SkelCap series’ solid aluminium casing can withstand the harshest environments. Our current customers such as the European Space Agency serve as a good validation for our products before taking on the automotive, wind-turbine and electricity-grid markets where ultracapacitors recuperate breaking energy or provide peak and back-up power. However the company’s long term goal is to use our technological advantage to bring down the cost of ultracapacitors 8x times from current conventional ultracapacitor manufacturers to less than 1,50 dollars per kW.”

The SkelCap family will be introduced at Eurosatory – the largest defense exhibition in Europe – held in Paris from 11th to 15th of June.

• SkelCap series ultracapacitors’ biggest differentiators include:
• 300% more power, 200% more energy than competitors;
• More than 3x smaller form factor for the same performance;

Performance validated by customers such as European Space Agency and industry experts at University of California Davis.

SkelCap data-sheets: http://skeletontech.com/Skeleton-Technologies-SkelCap-Datasheet-120608.pdf

About Skeleton Technologies, Ltd.

Skeleton Technologies is the world’s leading high performance ultracapacitor producer with Sales and Headquarters in Berlin, Germany and pilot production in Tartu, Estonia. The company’s solid-aluminium-encased ultracapacitors provide three-times higher energy density and two-times higher power density than its competitors. Its SkelCap series ultracapacitors are available for high-performance applications with devices ranging from 2.47 kW to 12.53 kW, with custom solutions available on request. For more information, visit http://www.skeletontech.com .

Skeleton exhibited in the Estonian booth, which was organized by Enterprise Estonia and supported by the European Regional Development Fund.

Skeleton´s high-end ultracapacitors sparked lively interest in the performance-driven defense industry. Skeleton Technologies’ leading researcher Dr. Mati Arulepp commented that ultracapacitors can bring added value and enhance performance in a plethora of applications from heavy machinery engine cranking, torpedo launchers to pulsed power in sonar systems.

Skeleton´s high-end ultracapacitors have 4x more power 2x more energy at the same mass and volume than any other competitor on the market hence providing our customers a significant competitive advantage over their competitors.

The seventh in the series of biennial Land, Naval and Internal Security Systems Exhibition, was held at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi from March 29 to April 1, 2012. More information at http://www.defexpoindia.in/main.aspx

The PwC hosted event presented 25 fast-growing companies to over 150 guests stemming from institutional investors (i.e. VCs, Private Equity Funds and Family Offices) to corporate and university partners. The featured companies were selected based on the uniqueness of their technology, the quality of their management, their ambition to grow internationally as well as the size of their total addressable market.

This first “Local to Global” Expo was followed by the official launch of PwC’s Accelerator which lays the groundwork for developing a connected and innovation-driven business community. More information can be found at http://www.pwcaccelerator.com/pwcaccelerator/media-centre-events-local-to-global-expo.html

Skeleton Technologies presentation will be given by the CEO, Mr. Taavi Madiberk on March 23rd.

The event schedule can be found at http://ecosummit.net/agenda