Power conversion technology developer Arctic Sand Technologies has closed a $19m series B round led by Murata and backed by GE Ventures.
Electronic component manufacturer Murata Manufacturing Company led a $19m series B round for US-based power conversion semiconductor developer Arctic Sand Technologies on Thursday.
GE Ventures, the corporate venturing subsidiary of General Electric, (GE) also invested in the round, as did investment manager Northwater Capital Management and venture capital firm Arsenal Venture Partners.
Spun out of university MIT, Arctic Sand is working on power conversion and LED boosting technology that can help mobile devices run more efficiently, with smaller batteries. It claims its products improve power conversion efficiency by about 10% without an increase in circuit board footprint.
Norio Nakajima, executive vice-president of Murata’s communication and sensor business unit and its energy business group, said: “Murata‘s long history of successful product innovation demonstrates that disruptive technologies are essential to enable market revolutions.
“This is why Murata is very excited to be working closely with the Arctic Sand team to develop market leading high efficiency power conversion products and technologies for our common customers.”
Arctic Sand previously closed a $9.6m series A round in 2013 featuring Arsenal, Northwater, semiconductor technology producer Dialog Semiconductor, angel investor Ray Stata and Energy Technology Ventures, the joint venture between GE and energy companies NRG Energy and ConocoPhillips.
– This article first appeared on Global Corporate Venturing.
