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Bangalore, Jan. 8 New Enterprise Associates (NEA), a leading US-based venture capital firm, today announced an investment in Deeya Energy Inc, a clean energy technology company focused on developing and manufacturing novel energy storage systems.

The company will use the $15-million from the Series B round, led by NEA and including funds from existing investors BlueRun Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) and DFJ Element, to support the construction of its factory in Gurgaon, its continued R&D activities. As a result of the investment, Mr Ravi Viswanathan, NEA Partner, will join the board of Deeya Energy.

“Deeya’s application of its proprietary L-Cell technology to create high-performance, low-cost energy storage solutions is among the most promising developments to date within the clean-tech industry,” said Mr Viswanathan.

Deeya L-Cells offer superior charging and discharging performance compared to other batteries and are significantly cheaper. The lifetime of a Deeya L-Cell is seven years, after which it can be refurbished and recycled with minimal cost. L-Cells are estimated to be cost-competitive with lead-acid batteries, and about 10-20 times cheaper than NiMH, Li-lon and Fuel Cell options.

Additionally, L-Cells contain environmentally benign materials and are infinitely recyclable, as opposed to the kinds of materials used in other batteries, such as lead-acid. The initial focus of the company is the Indian telecom infrastructure market, said a company release here.

“Deeya’s current focus is to be the supplier of choice to telecom operators in India with our innovative flow battery solution for cell phone tower energy back-up applications,” said Mr Vic Mahadevan, CEO of Deeya Energy.

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