FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Leyden Energy, Inc., the world’s leading manufacturer of advanced lithium-imide (Li-imide™) batteries, today announced that Mr. Rick Wilmer has joined the company as president and CEO and will also assume a seat on the company’s board of directors. Wilmer brings more than 25 years of experience in operations and executive management to Leyden Energy at a time when the company is scaling its operations to satisfy growing demand for advanced battery technologies.
Aakar Patel, Leyden Energy’s previous president and CEO, will remain in a vital role serving as Leyden Energy’s chief strategy officer focused on business and product development as the company enters its next phase of commercialization. Patel will also serve on the company’s board of directors alongside representatives of the company’s venture capital investors, New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Lightspeed Venture Partners, Sigma Partners and Walden International.
“Under Aakar’s leadership, Leyden Energy hit a number of recent product, manufacturing and customer milestones, requiring that the company scale its management team and add depth to its roster to help execute its next stage of growth,” said Ron Bernal, venture partner with NEA and a Leyden Energy board member. “Rick brings years of experience in large-scale technology manufacturing and commercialization, adding exactly the right mix of business and corporate development experience that will position Leyden Energy to go to the next level. With Aakar now focused on strategy, product and business development, and working directly with the company’s partners and customers, we’re expecting big things from Leyden Energy.”
Prior to Leyden Energy, Wilmer was CEO of Pliant Technology where he successfully led its acquisition by SanDisk. Prior to that, he was chief operating officer of Santur, a fast-growing manufacturer of optical components. Previous to Santur, Wilmer held executive engineering and operations positions at a number of leading networking and storage companies, including Aruba Networks, 2Wire and Seagate. Wilmer holds a B.S. degree in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley.
“With the rapid advancement of mobile consumer electronics and electrically enhanced vehicles, to name just two of the mass markets Leyden Energy’s technology is applicable to, there couldn’t be a more exciting time to join the company,” said Wilmer. “Demand for durable battery chemistries that address the thermal limitations of existing Li-ion platforms, with higher energy density, longer life and increased safety is at an all-time high. With Li-imide, Leyden Energy has the right chemistry platform at the right time to capitalize on these significant market opportunities and improve the consumer user experience. I look forward to working closely with Aakar Patel, our investors and the exceptional management team he assembled at Leyden Energy to help the company realize its full potential.”
Leyden Energy’s thermally superior batteries are perfectly suited for mobile consumer electronics applications due to their higher energy density, reduced swelling, improved safety and longer cycle and calendar life properties. These attributes also make Leyden Energy’s batteries well suited for use in electric vehicles and the harsh conditions associated with backup and grid storage applications.
“I am excited to collaborate with Rick Wilmer to help take our cutting-edge technology and the active customer engagements we have cultivated here at Leyden Energy to the next level,” said Patel. “By intensely focusing on our customers and working directly with them to design products powered by our advanced Li-imide chemistry platform, we can fundamentally improve how well end consumers can engage with their devices in work and play environments. Once Li-imide takes off, tablet, laptop and smartphone designers will no longer need to compromise by using previous generation Li-ion battery chemistries.”
The expansion of the Leyden Energy management team is just the most recent in a series of milestones the company has hit on its way to full-scale commercialization of its proprietary Li-imide battery chemistry platform. Recently, the company was named a “Cool Vendor” in Consumer Energy Management by world-leading industry analyst firm Gartner. The company was cited for having a battery chemistry platform that was innovative, impactful and intriguing.
About Leyden Energy, Inc.
Leyden Energy is the world leading manufacturer of advanced Li-imide™ batteries for the mobile, consumer electronics, energy storage and light electric vehicle markets. The company’s patented and proprietary lithium-imide chemistry platform addresses the shortcomings of previous generations of lithium-ion batteries by offering higher energy density, superior thermal stability and longer cycle and calendar life, resulting in optimal safety and durability, even in high temperature environments. Leyden Energy’s investors include New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Lightspeed Venture Partners, Sigma Partners and Walden International. Leyden Energy’s pilot manufacturing, testing facility and executive offices are located in Fremont, Calif. For more information, visit http://leydenenergy.com.
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