SAIL Venture Partners and Altira Group Add Financial Fuel to Environmentally-Friendly Pulstar™ Pulse Plugs

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.--ENERPULSE Incorporated has secured $5.5 million in its second round of financing provided by Series B investors, SAIL Ventures Partners and Altira Group, for its consumer launch of Pulstar™ Pulse Plugs, the first automotive ignition device to harness pulse power to improve fuel efficiency, torque and horsepower in today’s vehicles.

"We are delighted to have SAIL Venture Partners as a new member of our dynamic team and particularly pleased with Altira's ongoing confidence in our success,” said ENERPULSE CEO, Daniel Parker. Altira previously provided financing for research and development of the Pulstar Pulse Plug.

Pulstar is a drop-in replacement for the 1.5 billion spark plugs sold each year. The new ignition technology looks and fits into vehicles like spark plugs, but is 20,000 times more powerful, improving both fuel economy and performance in almost any type of vehicle.

"We originally targeted Pulstar to the automotive performance market, but with the high price of gasoline and Pulstar's ability to improve fuel economy, we expect a significant percentage of our customers to be those who are concerned about fuel costs," said Parker. Pulstar Pulse Plugs are currently available for purchase online and in August will be available at select automotive parts stores in the Los Angeles market.

Pulstar’s difference lies in its built-in pulse circuit, which stores the ignition's electrical power and then discharges it in an intense plasma ball. In fact, spark plugs can be compared to the low-power output of a flashlight, while pulse plugs generate intense power like the brightness emitted from a camera's flash.

"What impressed us the most about this deal is the automotive experience of the ENERPULSE team and how Pulstar can change the paradigm of the 100-year old, commodity spark plug business,” said SAIL Venture Partners spokesperson, Thomas Cain.

"Investing often depends on market timing and with gasoline over $3.00 per gallon, we feel the time is right for this new technology," said Altira Group partner Jim Newell.

SAIL Venture Partners is a national energy/cleantech venture capital firm investing in breakthrough innovations that solve major global problems. With investments in water purification, energy efficiency, renewable energy, air emissions, transportation and electrical appliances, extraordinary solutions and returns are being achieved. For more information visit www.sailvc.com.

Altira is an early stage venture fund focused on energy technology. Based in Denver, Colorado, the firm recently announced the closing of its fifth fund. Altira looks for outstanding technology companies in the areas of oil and gas, information technology for the energy industry, electric power generation, transmission and distribution and renewable energy. The firm targets opportunities in first institutional equity rounds with initial investments of $1 million to $3 million. For more information about Altira see www.altiragroup.com.

ENERPULSE, a privately held company headquartered in Albuquerque, N.M., was founded in 1996. The company develops environmentally-friendly ignition products through the application of pulse power technology. For more information, visit www.pulstarplug.com.