myFC AB, the developer of unique high power density hydrogen based fuel cells, raises USD 6.7 million to commercialize and launch the company’s first consumer product PowerTrekk, a fuel cell charger for mobile phones. The product will be shipped in Q4 2011 in Europe and Q1 2012 in USA. Among the investors in this round are KTH Chalmers Capital and the Sixth Swedish National Pension Fund.
Stockholm, Sweden – July 5, 2011 – myFC is delighted to announce that they have now finalized the second tranche of their expansion funding round and have now raised $6.7 million to bring their fuel cell charger PowerTrekk to the market.
“We see this funding round as an important validation and a great step on the way to awaken a market for fuel cells and prove the excellent performance and durability of the technology. We will now be able to provide end users with a better mobile experience”, says Björn Westerholm, CEO myFC.
The investment, that was divided into two tranches, will enable myFC to finalize the commercialization, kick-start the marketing efforts and launch the Company’s first consumer product, PowerTrekk, by the end of this year. The charger will address the increasingly tangible ‘power gap’ – the gap between the amount of power that users demand and what is actually available. A gap caused by the ever increasing number of functions and applications on mobile phones. This charger initiative is directly related to global consumer demands.
“We see huge interest in our product both from media, the outdoor and ITC industries and consumers. As a result of this, we currently cannot even meet the market demand for the product. We understood that we were addressing an immense market opportunity but we never fully understood the extreme market demand for a fuel cell charger such as PowerTrekk. Each year, around 2 billion mobile phone chargers are sold and the travel charger segment, which is the fastest growing sub-segment, is valued at more than €11 billion”, says Björn Westerholm.
The market
European consumers will soon have the convenience of a single charger for mobile phones produced by major manufacturers, thanks to new standards promoted by the European Commission. Manufacturers have agreed to adopt the ‘micro-USB’ connector as the new common phone charger standard. The agreement, involving 14 mobile phone manufacturers, will come into effect 2012 and the charger should be commonplace by 2013.
“The new standard will change the way in which mobile phone chargers are bought as they will be sold over the counter instead of coming in the box together with the handset. This opens up a good sales opportunity for us. Consumers will choose between different types of chargers, in different colors and for different purposes. Next year you will have one white charger in your home, one black in your car and one green PowerTrekk charger in your bag.”, says Björn Westerholm.
Two billion chargers are sold each year through the mobile phone charger market. The travel charger sub-segment is the fastest growing charger segment with an estimated market value of more than €11 billion. myFC’s strategy is to establish sales in this market.
“In addition to the latest funding we round, we have already been approached by international investors and will be working with our advisor GP Bullhound to open the door to an additional expansion round later in 2011, once we have launched our first product” says Björn Westerholm, CEO of myFC.
For further information: www.myfc.se, www.powertrekk.com
Contact Information
Björn Westerholm, CEO, Phone +46 706 56 20 07, Email bjorn.westerholm@myfc.se
Kristina Lindholm, Marketing Manager, Phone: +46 735 08 30 48, Email: kristina.lindholm@myfc.se
About myFC
myFC is an innovative Swedish fuel cell technology company that develops and industrializes solutions for powering portable electronics. Having secured numerous patents around proprietary shape-flexible fuel cell systems with record high power density, myFC is now launching its own commercial portable charger under the PowerTrekk brand. Current partners to myFC include high-tech developer and manufacturer Nolato. Among the investors are The Sixth AP Fund (Sjätte AP-fonden) and KCC. myFC is a privately owned company, headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. The company was founded in 2005
About PowerTrekk
PowerTrekk is a 2-in-1 solution that is both a portable battery pack and fuel cell. The portable battery pack can be operated on its own as a ready source of power or storage buffer for the fuel cell. The fuel cell enables instant charging from a depleted battery state without ever needing a wall charge. Users simply insert a fuel pack and add water. To charge portable devices – for example mobile phones, cameras and GPS devices – users connect a device to Power Trekk via a USB port. One charge is gives you 4 Wh, which is comparable to charging one smart phone battery.
“PowerTrekk has a competitive edge over traditional portable chargers. Fuel cell power is generated immediately and charging is not impacted by weather or the position of the sun, as for solar panels. Compared to battery powered travel chargers, PowerTrekk offers reliable charging as the fuel packs do not deplete as batteries do,” said Björn Westerholm, CEO at myFC, the company behind PowerTrekk.