ANN ARBOR – Sakti3 Inc., a developer of lithium-ion batteries, said it received a $4.2 million investment by General Motors Ventures LLC and Itochu Technology Ventures to speed commercialization of its battery cells.

The two new strategic investors join previous investors Khosla Ventures of Menlo Park, Calif. and Farmington Hills-based Beringea, Michigan?s largest venture capital firm.

“These investments by General Motors Ventures and Itochu Technology Ventures bring us not only capital, but partnerships that will speed our commercialization efforts,” said Sakti3 CEO Ann Marie Sastry. “Our product planning in the automotive and portables sectors will be accelerated by working with these two preeminent firms. The General Motors agreement partners us with a company that is clearly a global leader in vehicle electrification. Itochu Technology Ventures has a strong focus on energy technologies, and on growth markets in Asia. We’re very pleased to have engaged investors who will help us purposefully and quickly create our target products and address key regional markets.”

Said GM Ventures president Jon Lauckner: “GM Ventures is making strategic investments in new technology to support our core automotive business. Our objective is to identify start-up companies that offer the best future technology for our vehicles, including next generation propulsion systems. In this case, our investment in Sakti3 gives us access to an innovative battery technology that has the potential to be a mainstream solution for electrically-driven cars and trucks of the future.”

Sakti3 was awarded a $3 million grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corp. in 2009 and has been designated a State of Michigan Center of Energy Excellence in partnership with the University of Michigan.

“Sakti3 represents a new wave of companies that we are spinning out of the University of Michigan, and Dr. Sastry’s leadership has led to rapid progress in a short time,” said UM technology transfer office director Ken Nisbet. “We ? view their success as fulfilling the university’s mission to transfer R&D discoveries into great products that improve lives.?

For more information, click on Sakti3.Com

a>>