Boston-Power Gets $125M, Ships Jobs To China
Boston-Power, the Westborough-based lithium battery company, secured $125 million in new venture capital financing and plans to move 30 jobs from Massachusetts to China. It also plans to create hundreds of new jobs in China as it opens plants for manufacturing as well as research and development.
The company received "significant" support from GSR Ventures, a financing firm that supports companies with operations in China, said Christina Lampe-Onnerud, the company's founder and international chairman.
Boston-Power will also receive grants, low-interest loans and tax incentives from the Chinese government's stimulus program.
The company will keep its Westborough location, where it has about 75 workers, but about 30 of those jobs will be moved to China.
Once the new manufacturing, research and development sites are constructed in China, the company will potentially create hundreds of new jobs in the Asian country, she said, with a goal of producing up to 400 megawatt hours of lithium ion battery cells annually, which Lampe-Onnerud said is enough to power about 10,000 electric vehicles.
Calling the move a "new chapter for the company," Lampe-Onnerud said it came with some sadness because jobs are being moved out of the U.S. and to China, where many more new jobs will be created. She said she wanted to grow the company in the U.S. but the market drove the company to Asia, where the growth opportunities are much stronger.
As part of the new financing from GSR, the company's former CEO Keith Schmid - along with its CFO and vice president of marketing - left the company. Lampe-Onnerud said those positions will be filled in China. Lampe-Onnerud said she will remain in the U.S., where the company will keep a force dedicated to serving the U.S. and European markets, as well as managing the company's more than 150 patents.
Sonny Wu, the managing director of GSR, will become chairman of Boston-Power's board of directors.
In the next six months, Lampe-Onnerud expects a series of announcements related to new customer orders in Asia.
In addition to GSR, the company's venture funding is also coming from existing investors Oak Investment Partners and Foundation Asset Management.
Lampe-Onnerud said she expects to stay with the company in a leadership capacity for at least another year.
The financing follows a $55-million financing round in 2009.
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