Texas Backed Ideal Power Launches Successful IPO

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The state of Texas has a state backed emerging technology fund the Texas Emerging Technology Fund (TETF), which makes awards to Texas companies that bring jobs and innovation to the state. One of the companies backed by that fund, Ideal Power just launched a successful IPO, the first for the fund, and an early success for state-backed venture funding.

Not all the awardees picked by TETF have been all that emerging, or all that small, as the fund is more focused on location and job creation, but Ideal Power is new, and a startup focused on a variety of activities aimed at the future of utilities. Ideal Power received a $1 million TETF award in 2010, which served as a growth investment for the company’s work on solar, micro-grids, and electric vehicle charging stations.

In addition, Ideal Power has developed and commercialized Power Packet Switching Architecture (PPSA) that improves the weight, size, cost, efficiency, flexibility and reliability of electronic power converters. The company also has patents for its modular PPSA platform, which is scalable across distinct high-volume markets enabling its business model to be capital efficient.

The company aims to raise $15 million through the IPO, with pricing of around $5 per share. The announcement follows a $750,000 funding round in August, according to SEC filings. The company generated a little over a million dollars in revenue last year, but reported a net loss of $4.6 million. Money raised from the IPO will go into research and development according to the company.

TETF is a $200 million fund launched in 2005. Since then, TETF has allocated more than $202 million in funds to 142 early stage companies, and over $220 million in grant matching and research superiority funds to Texas universities.