Industrial conglomerate Robert Bosch has agreed to acquire US-based advanced battery developer Seeo in a deal that will grant an exit to investors including electronics manufacturer Samsung, Quartz reported on Wednesday.
Founded in 2007 off the back of polymer electrolyte research conducted at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Seeo is developing rechargeable batteries. It initially concentrated on lithium-ion technology but has latterly attempted to switch focus to nickel cobalt aluminium.
The amount paid by Bosch for Seeo was not revealed, but it will get the company’s intellectual property, all its staff and its manufacturing line in California.
The company had raised more than $43m, including $17m from a December 2014 series E round featuring Samsung Ventures, Samsung’s corporate venturing unit, as well as venture capital firms GSR Ventures and Khosla Ventures.
GSR and Khosla previously contributed to a $15m round in 2011 that also included angel investor Atiq Raza. It raised $8.6m in a Khosla-backed round in 2010 and $2m the year before, according to regulatory filings.
Seeo’s website additionally lists Google.org, the impact investment arm of internet company Google, and Presidio Ventures, the early-stage investment fund owned by diversified Japan-based conglomerate Sumitomo, as investors. It also received funding from the US government’s BATT initiative.
One of Bosch’s largest markets is automotive parts, and the deal marks possibly the first instance of a major player in the industry acquiring an electric vehicle battery technology developer outright. It also indicates Bosch may be preparing to invest more heavily in the sector.