WOBURN, MA – SolidEnergy Systems is moving from Waltham to Woburn and expanding its footprint from 3,000 to 23,000 square feet. The MIT spinoff will relocate in August to its new headquarters at Cummings Properties’ 35 Cabot Road property.
SolidEnergy developed an “anode-free” rechargeable lithium metal battery with twice the energy density of conventional batteries. Independently verified by third parties, the battery has a demonstrated capacity of 1200Wh/L (watt hours per liter) and 400Wh/kg (watt hours per kilogram), enabling smart phones to last twice as long and electric cars to travel twice as far.
The firm is working with leading consumer electronics and auto companies, and expects its battery to be used in drones, watches and wearables, smart phones and, ultimately, electric cars. Pilot-scale battery production will begin in September, with delivery to customers planned for later this year.
SolidEnergy began in 2012 at North Shore InnoVentures, a nonprofit technology incubator at Cummings Center in Beverly. In 2013, in collaboration with A123 Venture Technologies, it opened a 3,000-square-foot R&D lab in Waltham.
“A123’s incubator provided us with a great infrastructure and accelerated our development, but there comes a time when the caterpillar must break out of its cocoon and become a beautiful butterfly,” said SolidEnergy CEO Qichao Hu. “Our new Cabot Road home is an open ‘wall-free’ environment, where we can think big ideas and turn them into reality.”
Cummings Properties leasing directors Mike Truesdale and Rob Yacobian worked with Warren Brown, president of Boston Commercial Properties, on the transaction. Following an extensive renovation and buildout, the new space will be approximately 40 percent open office space and 60 percent production space.
“Our in-house design and construction teams are creating a custom space that allows the production area to be visible to the rest of the office through an extensive floor-to-ceiling glass line,” said Truesdale.
The new space also has high ceilings with exposed ductwork, skylights, and a state-of-the-art dry room custom built for battery production.
“Cummings Properties is pleased to have SolidEnergy join several other clients in what has become a green tech hub along the Route I-95/128 corridor,” said Yacobian.
Other energy-focused technology firms that lease with Cummings Properties in the area include Gridco Systems, Pellion Technologies, The Boston Solar Company, Integrated Systems International, ElectroChem, and Vionx Energy.
“Cummings helped us during our early days in Beverly, and it’s great to come back to another Cummings’ property,” said Hu. “There is plenty of room for us to grow here in the next five years.”
SolidEnergy recently raised $12 million in Series B funding, led by a major U.S. auto company, and syndicated by Shanghai Auto, Applied Ventures, and all existing investors who participated in previous Series A funding.
