Splashpower to make bigger wireless splash at Fulton Innovation

LONDON — Wireless power specialist Splashpower (Cambridge , England) has been acquired by U.S. group Altcor Inc. for an undisclosed sum from the administrators. The British start-up has been struggling to create a product since 2001, and went into administration last month, having failed to secure more funding.

Altcor (Ada, Michigan) will combine Splashpower’s inductive charging efforts with its own subsidiary, Fulton Innovation, which has also been trying to commercialize wireless power technology and which is the exclusive licensor of the eCoupled Intelligent Wireless Power technology that was demonstrated earlier this year at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

The deal was organized through Baker Tilly, who was appointed administrator of the Cambridge based company late March.

The Splashpower inductive charging system is based on a flat pad that plugs into the main electricity supply, called the SplashPad, and a SplashModule purpose-designed to reside within a piece of equipment and deliver direct current to charge the on-board battery. A SplashModule-enabled piece of equipment charges up while ever it sits on the SplashPad. It delivers power wirelessly and can be used to charge up multiple devices.

Splashpower's idea was to get its technology incorporated into mobile phones, PDAs and other portable devices so every device could use the same pad.

In January, Splashpower said it had has signed up its first major customer for the technology, Singapore based developer of converged mobile devices Mobile & Wireless Group (MWg). Under terms of the agreement, MWg devices will be equipped by mid 2008 with Splashpower's technology.

Fulton seems more interested in the patents owned by Splashpower than its employees or existing business.

"Combining our own robust patent portfolio with Splashpower's, we continue to strengthen and expand our capabilities in the development of wireless power," said director of advanced technologies for Fulton Innovation Dave Baarman in a statement.

Fulton said the company is working with a wide range of industry-leading companies to integrate eCoupled technology into infrastructure and electronic devices. Its engineers have been developing the technology for over 10 years.

Two other companies are known to be developing similar charging pads are WildCharge, which depends on a replacement case integrating embedded contacts, and Israeli group Powermat.

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