SAN RAMON, Calif.--()--Green Plug (www.greenplug.us), the first developer of digital technology enabling collaboration between electronic devices and their power sources, today announced that it has closed a Series B investment led by Herald Investments UK, Killik & Co. and Peninsula Venture Partners. While the amount of the investment was not disclosed, the Series B pre-money valuation is higher than the company’s Series A round, announced in January 2008.
“Our smart power protocol is exactly what CE products need to be completely efficient while addressing the e-waste crisis.”
Green Plug will apply the investment proceeds to effectively deliver its solution and expand customer engagements for its Greentalk™ digital power protocol and Greenwire™ multi-function physical layer technologies.
The funding announcement comes on the heels of a recently announced agreement with Imagination Technologies Group plc (LSE:IMG - www.imgtec.com), which will help to deliver both a zero increase in bill-of-materials costs and dramatically reduce time-to-market for Green Plug-enabled devices. Imagination, a leading provider of System-on-Chip (SoC) intellectual property (IP), is a strategic partner and shareholder, which has entered into a partnership with Green Plug that will enable it to use the market-leading real-time processing capabilities of Imagination's META™ processor for the next generation of Green Plug Power Processor TM technology for power supplies. Imagination will additionally be offering a soft IP core, allowing semiconductor and OEM companies to easily implement Green Plug client functionality for integration in future consumer electronics SoCs and devices.
PURE (www.pure.com), a world leader in digital radio and a division of Imagination Technologies, has also announced plans to enable Green Plug functionality in select radio products and is poised to introduce a smart power adapter accessory.
“With this new investment round, look for Green Plug to become native within power management and other controller chips, making it even easier for consumer electronics vendors to turn-on Greentalk in their products,” said Frank Paniagua, Jr., Green Plug CEO. “Our smart power protocol is exactly what CE products need to be completely efficient while addressing the e-waste crisis.
“We’re more committed than ever to fixing the ‘broken power model,’” Paniagua said. “More than two billion external power supplies were designed, manufactured and shipped last year alone, and that’s simply unacceptable – that’s waste the planet can’t afford, and that our solution helps to eliminate.”
The initial step in transforming from dumb power adapters into smart power solutions is to enable electronic products to communicate over the power connector. While thousands of consumers have voiced their preference for more convenient, reusable power adapters on www.iwantmygreenplug.com, the perception that doing so would entail added cost in what was a difficult year for CE product vendors proved an impediment to rapid adoption. Now, with the simpler “enablement” process that the Green Plug/Imagination partnership makes possible for many products, this impediment has been removed.
Using the new technology, any device can communicate with Green Plug-enabled power supplies directly over the power cable or through wireless transmission to the device, in many cases without adding any extra components. Consumers will have the option of using the free, vendor-provided power adapter or of purchasing a power accessory that will work with all Green Plug-enabled CE products and can be configured to simultaneously power 2, 4, 8 or more products, each with unique power requirements.
Green Plug is the first green technology company to apply two-way digital communication to convert power from a universal power source to a device’s specific power requirements. The Greentalk power protocol enables devices to collaborate with power supplies to dynamically monitor and control them, minimizing power consumption under different operating conditions. Highly efficient, stylish DC power hubs enabled with Green Plug’s Green Power Processor (GPP) chip are able to simultaneously power multiple devices, each with its own specific voltage and power requirements. Green Plug technology also minimizes solid waste by allowing consumers to keep these smart power adapters and battery chargers for use with future devices long after their current devices have become obsolete.
Armando Castro, Partner at Reed Smith, leads the company’s counsel.
About Green Plug
Green Plug is the first developer of digital technology enabling collaboration between electronic devices and their power sources. The company’s innovative green power components allow manufacturers to standardize on one universal power connector, exceed all current US and European governmental efficiency regulations, and eliminate environmental waste. Consumer electronics, residential and commercial builders, power tools and power supply manufacturers license Green Plug’s embeddable power supply technology to provide universal and safe connections, promote environmentally friendly reuse, make their products more affordable, and generate customer loyalty. Green Plug, headquartered in San Ramon, Calif., is privately held.
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Delicious
Reddit
StumbleUpon
Digg
MySpace
Newsvine
Google Bookmark
Yahoo! Bookmark
Email
Email 
