The bankrupt saltwater electrolyte battery developer had raised $190m in financing since it was spun out from Carnegie Mellon eight years ago, but was bought for less than $9.2m.
Energy and oil producer China Titans Energy Technology Group has acquired Aquion Energy, a bankrupt US-based energy storage technology developer spun out from Carnegie Mellon University, for $9.16m, according to a regulatory filing.
Aquion is developing aqueous hybrid ion (AHI) batteries and system that will use saltwater electrolyte technology to store power generated by renewable energy systems. It filed for bankruptcy in March this year after raising about $190m in debt and equity financing.
Investors in Aquion, which was founded in 2009, include power generator Exelon and oil and gas companies Total and Shell.
The three took part in a $36.8m series E round for Aquion in 2014 through respective subsidiaries Constellation Technology Ventures, Total Energy Ventures and Shell Technology Ventures.
CapX Fund IV, Yung Enterprise, Prelude Ventures, DNS Capital, Bright Capital, Advanced Technology Ventures, Tao Invest, Gentry Venture Partners and Bill Gates had also provided funding for Aquion. The acquisition means it has formally emerged from chapter 11 bankruptcy and it will now resume operations.
– A version of this article first appeared on our sister site Global Corporate Venturing.
