And, legendary Silicon Valley VC Vinod Khosla was so impressed, his firm, Khosla Ventures, led the company’s series B funding round to the tune of $2 million. Between these and several earlier placements, the Ann Arbor company received $35 million in funding. Then in March, British electronics giant Dyson Ltd. plunked down $15 million, bringing Sakti3’s total capitalization to $50 million.
But in a surprising development, Dyson Ltd. recently announced plans to acquire Sakti3 for $90 million saying it would use Sakti3’s technology for home appliances, rather than for the electric grid or vehicle applications in Sakti3’s original product roadmap. The purchase price is but a fraction of the billion dollar IPO value its long list of well-heeled backers had originally envisioned.