MENLO PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Artificial Muscle, Inc., (AMI) a manufacturer that designs and builds actuator components based on its patented electroactive polymer artificial muscle (EPAM™) technology, today announced a $20 million Series B round of financing. AMI will use the funds for ramping up its high volume manufacturing and operations, new product development, and marketing and sales resources to support the plan for initial product launches.
The round was led by the venture capital division of AllianceBernstein L.P., a leading asset management firm headquartered in New York. All Series A round investors participated in the Series B round including Arch Venture Partners, NGEN Partners, and Vanguard Ventures. Also investing in the Series B round were key strategic investors including Micron Technology, Inc.; Parker Hannifin Corporation; and CTTV Investments LLC, the venture capital arm of Chevron Technology Ventures.
AMI also announced the appointment of Scott Metcalf as COO and Vice President of Manufacturing. Mr. Metcalf brings extensive manufacturing knowledge and an executive management background to the company. Previously he had served as CEO of Pathscale and Hal Computer Systems and in key manufacturing executive positions at Sun Microsystems.
“We are delighted with the addition of AllianceBernstein L.P. as an investor as well as the continued support of our Series A round investors,” said Art Goldberg, AMI’s President and CEO. “They and our new corporate investors share our confidence that AMI’s Electroactive Polymer Artificial Muscle (EPAM) technology and products will introduce a revolutionary change in the $50B global actuator market. We are also very fortunate to have Scott Metcalf on board to lead our ramp to high volume EPAM actuator manufacturing”
“We see AMI’s EPAM technology as a truly disruptive actuator technology,” remarked Jamie Kiggen, Senior Vice President of AllianceBernstein L.P. “We are excited about the breadth of AMI’s product roadmap, including applications from lens actuators on cell phone cameras to a wide variety of industrial pump, valve, sensor, and transducer solutions.”
About Artificial Muscle Incorporated
Artificial Muscle, Inc. (AMI) is a high technology company that designs and manufactures actuator and sensing components based on the new technology platform called electroactive polymer artificial muscle (EPAM). EPAM technology is called artificial muscle because of the context of its historical development and because, much like human muscle, it converts one form of energy (electrical field energy) into mechanical motion. It offers significant advantages over typical electromagnetic-based technologies because it is much lighter, smaller, quieter and cheaper, and offers more controllable and flexible configurations. EPAM devices serve as lightweight, highly efficient alternatives to actuators, small motors, generators, sensors, and speakers used in products ranging from automobiles to audio speakers. AMI serves a multi-billion dollar market with artificial muscle-based components for consumer, medical, industrial, automotive, aerospace and cleantech applications.
AMI was founded by SRI International, which is a Silicon Valley non-profit research and development institute that has a history of 50 years of developing advanced technologies, to exclusively commercialize artificial muscle technology. EPAM technology was developed at SRI over a 12-year period. AMI became an independent company in early 2004 with venture fund financing from Vanguard Ventures, ARCH Venture Partners, and NGEN Partners.
For further information contact AMI at www.artificialmuscle.com or via email at info@artificialmuscle.com.
EPAM is a trademark owned by Artificial Muscle, Inc.
Contacts Artificial Muscle, Inc. Timothy Coogan, 650-331-2890 info@artificialmuscle.com http://www.artificialmuscle.com
