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Neah Power Systems, Inc.
22122 20th Ave SE, Suite 161
Bothell, Washington 98021
Tel: 425.424.3324
Fax: 425.483.8454
Neah Power Systems is developing a micro fuel cell with a patented technology called Porous Silicon Methanol Fuel Cells. Neah’s technology replaces the proton exchange membrane used in traditional micro fuel cells with a silicon architecture that greatly expands the fuel cell’s catalytic reaction area, thereby significantly increasing its power output and dramatically increasing run time. It also eliminates the “methanol crossover” (i.e. methanol leaking through the membrane) problem inherent in most Direct Methanol Fuel Cells.
Leroy Ohlsen conceived the idea for the silicon based micro fuel cell as a chemistry major at the University of Washington. Traditonal Direct Methanol Fuel Cells use a polymer exchange membrane to produce electricity from methanol. "Methanol crossover" occurs when methanol leaks through the membrane, reducing the efficiency and life of the fuel cell. Leroy's idea was to replace the polymer membrane with porous silicon. This eliminated them methanol crossover problem and, because the silicon presented a much larger reaction area, resulted in increased performance and longer run times.
After graduation, in 1999, Leroy and his high school friend Mike Fabian founded Neah Power Systems. They submitted a business plan to Seattle's Alliance of Angels in 2000, a network of angel investors, and received series A venture funding in 2001 that raised $2 million from Frazier Technology Ventures (led by Dan Rosen, chairman of the Alliance of Angels) and several other investors.
Neah Power Systems began in a house
where Ohlsen, Fabian, and a group of scientists and engineers lived
and worked. They eventually moved into the Washington Technology Center,
a non-profit lab at the University of Washington, where they developed
and patented the technology and named it Porous Silicon Methanol Fuel
Cells. Rosen arranged for Alf Bredlund, former Rayovac scientist, to
perform due diligence on Neah's technology. He concluded that Neah had
a potential breakthrough energy technology with significant market potential.
Under Rosen's guidance, Neah decided to target their micro fuel cell
to the mobile computing market.
In 2002, Len Jordan, a marketing guy from RealNetworks, was brought
in and he recruited Dave Dorheim, former president of AER Energy Resources,
a 20 year veteran of the electrochemical industry, who licensed AER's
technology to Duracel and Rayovac. He understands the adoption curve
for new battery technologies.
In 2002, Neah began receiving series B funding, and raised $6 million
from Frazier, Alta Partners and Intel Capital. In 2003, Neah was awarded
a two-year $2 million federal grant from the National Institute of Standards
in Technology's advanced technology program. In December 2002, Rosen
received a call from Ohlsen on a cell phone powered by a Neah micro
fuel cell. Series B funding concluded in 2004 with $12 million from
Castile Ventures and WestAM, the global investment management arm of
WestLB AG, Germany's fourth-largest bank.
$3.5 Million in Federal Funding
Included for Neah Power Systems Porous Silicon-Based Direct Methanol
Fuel Cell in the House-Passed Fiscal Year 2006 Department of Defense
Appropriations Bill
Neah plans to begin commericializing its micro fuel cells later in 2006
and went public on March 23, 2006. The stock rose 567% on the first
day of trading.