Bel Fuse, the Jersey City-based supplier of products that power, protect and connect electronic circuits, recently closed on a minority stake investment with Germany-based innolectric AG, forming an alliance focused on electric vehicles’ next-generation fast-charging technology.
Innolectric was founded in 2016 through a closely held ownership group to be a platform-based business in the field of power electronics for e-mobility and, in particular, the on-board fast charging for commercial vehicles.
“As an early-stage company with a great proven product, and a more notable pipeline of new developments, we are excited to partner with a leader in the EV space,” innolectric shareholder Roger Uhlenbrock said.
Bel Fuse CEO Dan Bernstein noted: “EV has been a target growth area for Bel and we are excited to accelerate growth through this partnership with innolectric. With no product overlap, this complementary relationship will expand the Bel eMobility Power portfolio, allowing us to stay ahead of the competition with next-generation fast-charging technology, and cement our reputation as the go-to supplier in this space. Innolectric has terrific engineering talent for both hardware and software development. They have an impressive list of customer relationships for an early-stage company, which is a testament to its technology. Bel looks forward to partnering with the ownership group and its CEO, Tim Karcher, to rapidly scale innolectric.”
As part of the investment, Bel will have usual minority protection rights and the option to further expand its 1/3 ownership stake upon the achievement of key milestones.
Stephens Inc. acted as exclusive financial adviser to Bel, and METIS Rechtsanwälte PartG mbB served as legal adviser.