Investment Marks Endorsement of Emerging Consumer Electronics Standard, Will Hasten Market Adoption of Intelligent Green Plug-Enabled Power Charging Hubs
PALM DESERT, CALIF. (January 28, 2008) - Green Plug, the first developer of digital technology enabling real-time collaboration between electronic devices and their power sources, today announced that it has received a Series A investment from Peninsula Equity Partners of Menlo Park, Calif. The amount of the investment was not disclosed.
Green Plug made the announcement at DEMO 08, the exclusive conference for emerging technology being held January 28-30 in Palm Desert, Calif. Green Plug is exhibiting in station #28 at the show.
Green Plug will apply the investment proceeds to expanding the sales of its Universal Power Protocol chip, which embeds GreentalkTM - the company's secure, digital protocol for real-time communication between devices that require power and their power sources - and to securing partnerships with OEMs that will bring to market intelligent Green Plug-enabled DC power charging hubs.
"Green technology has been in hype mode for a couple years now, and largely ignored by the consumer electronics industry," said Chris Shipley, executive producer of DEMO 08. "Green Plug's emergence is a positive sign that a universal DC power standard may one day become a reality, and the company itself is a prime example that environmentally-friendly devices will find a market with green consumers."
"Green Plug technology offers unprecedented levels of convenience, cost-effectiveness and environmental friendliness to consumers, electronics manufacturers, utility companies and regulators," said Greg Robinson, Managing Director, Peninsula Equity Partners. "By enabling a single external power supply to power any DC-powered product, regardless of the device's power requirements, Green Plug's intellectual property represents an enormous breakthrough."
According to Frank Paniagua Jr., CEO and founder of Green Plug, "we chose to go with Peninsula Equity Partners because the firm truly understands what Green Plug is seeking to accomplish. Today, the power model is broken -- 3.2 billion external power supplies are estimated to be designed, manufactured and shipped in 2008. Peninsula recognizes the opportunity this represents and we are pleased to be working together in building a company and a global standard around Green Plug technology. We're delighted to formally unveil that standard at DEMO 08 this week."
Green Plug is the first green technology company to apply two-way digital communication to convert a universal power source to a device's specific power requirements. The Greentalk digital protocol enables devices to collaborate with power supplies to dynamically monitor, control and optimize power delivery for changing conditions. Highly efficient, stylish DC power hubs enabled with Green Plug's UPP chip are able to simultaneously power multiple devices, each with its own specific voltage and power requirements. Green Plug technology minimizes solid waste by allowing consumers to keep their chargers for use with future devices after their current devices have become obsolete.
Produced by Network World Events and Executive Forums, the semi-annual DEMO conferences focus on emerging technologies and new products, which are hand-selected from across the spectrum of the technology marketplace. The DEMO conferences have earned their reputation for consistently identifying tomorrow's cutting-edge technologies, and have served as launch pad events for companies such as Palm, E*Trade, Handspring, and U.S. Robotics, helping them to secure venture funding, establish critical business relationships, and influence early adopters. Each DEMO conference features approximately 70 new companies, products and technologies. For more information, visit www.demo.com.
About Peninsula Equity Partners
Peninsula Equity Partners is a venture capital firm focused on investing alongside world-class entrepreneurs in building early-stage technology based companies. The Peninsula team has over 50 years of direct venture experience and ranks among the industry's top-performing venture capital firms. Prior portfolio companies of the Peninsula investment professionals include: Efficient Networks (IPO), Genitope (IPO), GlycoFi (Acquired Merck), Persistence Software (IPO) and PowerQuest (Acquired Symantec),. For more information, please visit www.peninsulaequity.com.
About Green Plug
Green Plug is the first developer of digital technology enabling real‐time 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.
# # #
Edge Communications, Inc.