New to the Accelerator: Elegus

12/14/2016

From cars to phones to everything in between, batteries are an essential design component. U-M startup Elegus Technologies is working on making them safer and more efficient with an innovation derived from research at the University of Michigan.

“Our technology has a lot of potential,” said Elegus CEO John Hennessy. “If we can allow battery manufacturers to safely increase energy density, things like longer battery life and greater range for electric vehicles will become more commonplace.”

Given these advantages, Elegus is anxious to bring its technology to market. To expedite the process, the company recently moved into U-M Innovation Partnerships’s Venture Accelerator.

“Being located in the Venture Accelerator makes it possible for us to make better use of the resources of the Innovation Partnerships Venture Center” Hennessy explained. “We know that University of Michigan’s support makes a difference: Translational research funding from the U-M MTRAC program was essential to getting Elegus to where it is now, and access to mentors and key advisors are helping us mature as a startup.”

Help from Innovation Partnerships and its Mentor-in-Residence program also played a key role in Elegus securing a strategic partnership with a leading battery manufacturer as well as $1.5 million in funding.

Moving forward, Elegus will leverage support from University of Michigan as well as its experience at TechStars Mobility to launch into the automotive market. TechStars Mobility is a Motor City-based that connected it to 150 mentors across 38 different automotive and transportation companies, including Ford Motor Company and Michelin.

“Once we’ve achieved success in the electric vehicles market, other manufacturers will see our value,” Hennessy said. “We are confident that the resources available to us now are the catalyst for our future.”