Money.cnn.com had an article where they surveyed a bunch of entrepreneurs and asked them what kind of startup companies they would be interested in investing in. One of those they asked was Elon Musk. Here's what they got. . .
Elon isn't the only one interested in storage technology. Next they asked the people at Kholsa Ventures. . .
When they say "five times the life", I don't know if they mean five times greater energy density (which would be revolutionary) or merely five times the lifespan before it needs replacement (which would be less revolutionary, but still great).
The New Power Play
The Investor: Elon Musk, co-founder, PayPal
What he's backed: SpaceX, Tesla Motors
What he wants now: As Musk's two most recent investments - in a space rocket and an all-electric sports car - suggest, the 35-year-old entrepreneur likes to think big. So he's intrigued by the promise of a next-generation battery called an ultracapacitor, capable of powering everything from cars to tractors. Unlike chemical batteries, ultracapacitors store energy as an electrical field between a pair of conducting plates. Theoretically, they can be charged in less than a second rather than hours, be recharged repeatedly without sacrificing performance, and far outlast anything now on the market.
"I am convinced that the long-term solution to our energy needs lies with capacitors," Musk says. "You can't beat them for power, and they kick ass on any chemical battery."
Musk would know: He was doing Ph.D. work at Stanford on high-energy capacitors before he helped get PayPal off the ground. At least one startup, EEStor in Texas, and a larger company, Maxwell Technologies in California, are working on ultracapacitors. Yet Musk believes a university-based research group has an equal shot at a commercial breakthrough, since universities are where the most promising research is bubbling up. "The challenge is one of materials science, not money," Musk says.
The team to pull this off, he says, would need expertise in materials science, applied physics, and manufacturing. Musk wants to see a prototype that can power something small, like a boom box. "Make one and show me that it works," Musk says. "Then tell me what's wrong with it and how it can be fixed."
What he'll invest: $4 million over two years for a working prototype
Send your pitch to: [email protected]. -- M.V.C.
Elon isn't the only one interested in storage technology. Next they asked the people at Kholsa Ventures. . .
A Better Energizer
The Investors: Samir Kaul and Vinod Khosla, partners, Khosla Ventures
What they've backed: BCI, Codon Devices, iSkoot
What they want now: Khosla, a legendary Silicon Valley VC whose winners have included Juniper Networks and Redback Networks, and Kaul are looking for an engineering team to build a lithium-ion battery with five times the life of anything found in cell phones, PDAs, or cameras. Matsushita and Sanyo are pushing the limits on lithium-ion cells, as are a couple of promising startups. But as with ultracapacitors, Khosla and Kaul think the right inventor will come from an academic lab. "We see research that proves it's attainable," Kaul says. "This is not a flying car. If it was, I'd ask for 20 times."
What they'll invest: $2 million for a 10- to 15-person team to show proof of concept
Send your pitch to: [email protected]. -- S.H.
When they say "five times the life", I don't know if they mean five times greater energy density (which would be revolutionary) or merely five times the lifespan before it needs replacement (which would be less revolutionary, but still great).