LiquidPiston

LiquidPiston Update // Campaign Closing in 3 days

follower @ LiquidPiston

Published on Mar 14, 2019

Hello everyone!

Our Wefunder campaign is wrapping up in just a few days. We appreciate all the efforts of the Wefunder team, and all of the investors, as we’ve raised close to $2M (and counting) with 2 campaigns on the platform. Thanks to all for the support, and please help us make people aware that this is a last call to invest. March 16th is the last day!

Summary:

The company has continued to make great progress on both the product development, and the commercial / business development. 

We’ve exceeded the 30 kW power target for our Diesel engine program with DARPA;  and we are poised to deliver our first 2 kW hybrid electric power generation unit for initial field testing by the Army in May, on the Howtizer.

It’s an extremely exciting time right now for the company, as LiquidPiston transitions from being an R&D focused company, to an operating business – we’ve just signed a deal with a car company, the first step toward potentially putting our engine into a hybrid electric car prototype; and we have a strong pipeline of other near-term customer opportunities in the works, that could potentially total tens of millions of dollars in development (NRE) funding to help insert our technology into various applications, with hundreds of millions of dollars in potential product revenues, if all projects come through to full fruition.


UPDATE (some DETAILS):


Product Development Update:

DARPA 30kW Engine: We’ve wrapped up our third and final phase of our DARPA program, totaling $6M in non-dilutive technology development funding for a new 30kW rotary Diesel X-Engine platform. This culminated in the demonstration of 30.4kW of power and 35% efficiency (net indicated basis), exceeding program targets. We are very pleased with the result, and the engine continues to improve. This engine will serve as the basis for future work we are doing with a car company (See below) and hopefully other partners in the near future.

Army 2kWe hybrid generator: We are in the final stretch of our Army program, and extremely busy testing and integrating the X-Mini engine, running on jet fuel, into a hybrid electric generator for the M777 Howitzer. We expect to deliver a first prototype to the Army early in May for initial field testing. The program has gone well. It was a challenge to get the engine started in freezing weather conditions on heavy fuel, but the team worked diligently and resolved that.

Commercial Update:

A key company-building objective for 2019 is to transition from the past 2+ years’ reliance on US DoD development contracts to engine development programs sponsored by commercial partners. We would like to leverage the prior investor- and DoD-funded research and advanced development to support a business model which charges for development services and licenses the core engine technology.

The success of the technology achievements so far has resulted in a pipeline of customer / partnering opportunities, representing tens of millions of dollars in potential development (engineering) services revenue, and hundreds of millions of dollars in potential product (licensing) revenue. Since our last update, we:

  • Have signed an agreement with a major player in the automotive sector to develop an engine based on our X4 platform for a hybrid electric vehicle range-extender demonstration. This begins with a concept / feasibility study.
  • Progressed to negotiating contract(s) with multiple Aircraft / UAV manufacturers toward using our engine platform for primary propulsion, hybrid power, and auxiliary power applications for various types of aircraft and drones. 

These kinds of deals take time, but we are pleased to be making steady progress and expect to close a few of these deals within the next several months. Each of these potential programs start with concept evaluation / feasibility studies, and then build from there upon success. 

* Note: The above engagements are subject to Non-Disclosure Agreements so we need to withhold names and other specifics until there is mutual agreement between LiquidPiston and the other party(ies) to publicly disclose business collaboration arrangements.

Proposals for new US Government Contracts:

Although our primary focus is on transitioning product development and industrialization with commercial companies for targeted power generation, primary propulsion, and hybrid electric propulsion applications, we will continue to opportunistically apply for US DoD and DoE grants. Such grants represent potential non-dilutive financing and can further fund the maturation of our engine platforms, including development of demonstration systems using our engine, and new engine platforms.

We currently have 2 proposals with the DoE and 3 with the DoD submitted for government consideration. Several of the proposals involve collaboration with partners and sub-contractors.


Fundraising Update:

With the commercial partner engagements described above, we are actively working to raise our Series A growth equity round to accelerate product development and product commercialization for both military and commercial markets. We are seeking the participation of one or more strategic partners in this round, along with financial investors. 

We were honored to be selected as one of 11 finalists (out of 70 companies that applied) for the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI) 2019 Venture Day in Houston on March 11. OGCI selected companies with promising energy efficiency technologies and business models ready for pilots or deployment, and intends to invest $50M into some or all of the finalists. 

Board Update:
We regret that for personal reasons, Tony Tether has resigned from the LiquidPiston Board of Directors effective March 8. We appreciate Tony’s experience and insights over the past 3 years which were a very formative time for LiquidPiston. Looking ahead, we anticipate that we will add 1 to 2 new members of the Board of Directors with the planned Series A equity round.

Thank you to all investors, we look forward to great things to come!

THE OFFERING MATERIALS INCLUDING THIS UPDATE MAY CONTAIN FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AND INFORMATION RELATING TO, AMONG OTHER THINGS, THE COMPANY, ITS BUSINESS PLAN AND STRATEGY, AND ITS INDUSTRY. THESE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS ARE BASED ON THE BELIEFS OF, ASSUMPTIONS MADE BY, AND INFORMATION CURRENTLY AVAILABLE TO THE COMPANY’S MANAGEMENT. WHEN USED IN THE OFFERING MATERIALS, THE WORDS “ESTIMATE,” “PROJECT,” “BELIEVE,” “ANTICIPATE,”“INTEND,” "SEEK," “EXPECT,” "POTENTIAL" AND SIMILAR EXPRESSIONS ARE INTENDED TO IDENTIFY FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS, WHICH CONSTITUTE FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS. THESE STATEMENTS REFLECT MANAGEMENT’S CURRENT VIEWS WITH RESPECT TO FUTURE EVENTS AND ARE SUBJECT TO RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES THAT COULD CAUSE THE COMPANY’S ACTUAL RESULTS TO DIFFER MATERIALLY FROM THOSE CONTAINED IN THE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS. INVESTORS ARE CAUTIONED NOT TO PLACE UNDUE RELIANCE ON THESE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS, WHICH SPEAK ONLY AS OF THE DATE ON WHICH THEY ARE MADE. THE COMPANY DOES NOT UNDERTAKE ANY OBLIGATION TO REVISE OR UPDATE THESE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS TO REFLECT EVENTS OR CIRCUMSTANCES AFTER SUCH DATE OR TO REFLECT THE OCCURRENCE OF UNANTICIPATED EVENTS.