US-based chemicals conglomerate Dow Chemical has reportedly invested an undisclosed amount in US-based batteries company Primet Precision Materials.
The amount in aggregate raised by Primet was undisclosed but in a May regulatory filing, the company said it had gathered its planned $2.5m and Larry Thomas, chief executive officer of Primet, has put the overall amount raised by Primet as $25m since its founding, according to news provider Dow Jones Newswires.
Dow Chemical’s contribution to Primet’s latest round of funding makes it the latest in a series of cleantech investments for Dow, among them the solar panel maker NuvoSun and battery company Xtreme Power, which provides an energy storage system designed to work with sustainable sources.
In March, Primet received funding from the New York State Foundation for Technology and Innovation. Prior to that, Primet’s series B round was backed by US-based financial services firm Morgan Stanley, which joined US-based venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Cayuga Venture Fund as investors in the company in September 2008.
Primet claims its NanoScission process can greatly reduce the cost of manufacturing batteries for use in electric-powered vehicles, therefore enabling them to be marketed to ordinary consumers. Dow Jones said Primet was aiming to use the money to develop a demonstration plant in its factory in Ithaca, New York.