Dolby Labs' Licensing Pioneer, Ed Schummer, Joins Gridtential as CLO to Spearhead Silicon Joule™ Licensing Program

SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 24, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Gridtential Energy, Inc., an innovator in low-cost, high-performance energy storage technologies, today announced that it has appointed one of Dolby Laboratories licensing pioneers, Ed Schummer as Chief Licensing Officer. A nearly thirty-year Dolby veteran, Schummer was instrumental in shaping Dolby's first-in-kind licensing model, widely credited for parlaying a once obscure, but novel, noise reduction technology into a global quality mark. The Schummer win represents a major talent acquisition for Gridtential as the company advances its global licensing strategy for its patented Silicon Joule™ battery technology.

Under Schummer's leadership, the Dolby team created and refined an influential and much imitated licensing model program and made the Dolby brand synonymous with best-in-class entertainment systems. Dolby's licensing footprint spans 40 countries with 100's of licensees from consumer electronics manufacturers to software vendors.

"When I joined Dolby more than 30 years ago, we'd developed a high quality audio system, constrained in a niche market. But our small team then saw what I see in Gridtential now – an opportunity to reinvigorate a conventional market, in this case battery manufacturing, with a best-in-class platform, " said Ed Schummer, Chief Licensing Officer at Gridtential Energy. "Knowing what I know now, I'm looking forward to working closely with Gridtential's expanding portfolio of battery manufacturer licensees to tap their existing gigawatt-scale factories and help them leverage the Silicon Joule platform into one of their most lucrative new revenue streams."

For decades, battery manufacturers in the $31B lead-acid sector have sought an advanced storage solution that extends beyond the current benefits of the chemistry in order to serve in-demand sectors like stationary, mobility and now distributed energy. Yielding higher energy density, longer cycle life and deeper depth-of-discharge than incumbent lead-acid, while offering a safe alternative to lithium ion, Gridtential's Silicon Joule platform is an economic solution to enable these existing and emerging sectors.

"The addition of Schummer to the team is a major coup for us. Anyone familiar with Dolby's success will recognize the impact Ed had in transforming a novel technology into an unprecedented brand and sales driver," said Christiaan Beekhuis, CEO of Gridtential Energy. "Under Ed's leadership, Dolby became the gold-standard for sound – regardless of the system's size, location or application – and I know he will be instrumental in supporting new and existing battery manufacturers as we grow our customer program and IP portfolio."

About Gridtential Energy
Gridtential Energy is developing a low-cost, scalable battery architecture that significantly improves energy density, cycling performance and battery life. Gridtential has relationships with key suppliers to accelerate development of highly repeatable, high-volume battery production capabilities. Gridtential Energy is located in Santa Clara, California. To learn more, visit http://www.gridtential.com/

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SOURCE Gridtential Energy

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