16 May 2011

Thin-film PV firm Stion named top 50 startup at TiEcon

Stion Corp of San Jose, CA, USA, which manufactures nanostructure-based thin-film photovoltaic panels, has been chosen as a winner of the TiE50 Award honoring start-ups in a variety of industries.

Stion was recognized at TiEcon 2011 in the Santa Clara Convention Center on 13–14 May. TiEcon is said to be the world's largest conference for entrepreneurs, attracting thousands of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and industry executives.

This year, the TiE50 program screened 1619 companies worldwide, through a multi-tier screening and judging process. “Stion was clearly ranked amongst the best of the breed by a team of 60 highly accomplished and experienced judges. These experts included globally recognized venture capitalists, CEO’s, academia, and serial entrepreneurs,” says TiEcon 2011 chairman Vish Mishra, president of TiE Silicon Valley. “Being recognized as a TiE50 winner is a true testament to their entrepreneurial spirit and world-class caliber,” he adds.

Founded in 2006 as Nstructures, Stion raised $15m in June 2007 in a Series B financing round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and joined by General Catalyst Partners along with previous investors Khosla Ventures and Braemar Energy Ventures. In June 2010, VentureTech Alliance — an affiliate of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd (TSMC) of Hsinchu, Taiwan (the world’s largest pure-play silicon foundry) — invested $50m to take a 21% stake in Stion.

Stion also agreed to license and transfer its thin-film CIGSS (copper indium gallium sulfur-selenide) technology to TSMC, in exchange for TSMC providing a certain quantity of solar modules to Stion using the technology. TSMC and Stion also agreed to work together to enhance the thin-film technology through joint development. Stion is currently building its first mass-production facility in Hattiesburg, MS.

“TiE50 companies this year again represented an extraordinary set of ideas, innovation, and business opportunities. Since its inception two years ago, 94% of TiE50 companies have been funded, attracting over $20bn in investments,” says TiE50 2011 chair Ram K. Reddy. “We plan to feature our finalists and winners through various channels and outreach programs during the year,” adds Reddy.

See related items:

DOE’s PV Incubator program invests $7m in fourth round of projects

Tags: Stion PV

Visit: www.stion.com

Visit: www.tiecon.org