Silatronix Inc., a Madison start-up that is aiming to make lightweight lithium ion batteries much more efficient and safe, has raised $2.8 million, according to a filing the company made with federal securities regulators.
The funding is part of a proposed $4.2 million round Silatronix is trying to raise, according to the filing.
Lithium ion batteries are used in cellphones, power tools, electric cars, airplanes, ships and other areas. Siltronix views itself as a chemical company that produces electrolytes made with organosilicon compounds — materials containing carbon-silicon bonds. It is marketing its electrolytes to battery makers to help make their batteries and capacitors more efficient and environmentally friendly, Silatronix Chief Executive Mark Zager said.
Silatronix was the first company in a program which was started in 2008 by Venture Investors, a Madison venture capital firm.
Silatronix raised $500,000 from Venture Investors in 2008. Scott Button, a managing director at Venture Investors in Madison, is on the company’s board of directors, according to its web site. The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundationis also an investor, the web site says.
The company is based on technology developed by chemists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Argonne National Laboratory in Argonne, Ill., and Quallion LLC, a Palo Alto, Calif., battery maker.
