In mid-February 2021, Advent Technologies Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADN) - a firm working in the fuel cell and hydrogen technology space - acquired UltraCell LLC ("UltraCell") the fuel cell division of Bren-Tronics, Inc. Acquired by Bren-Tronics in 2011, UltraCell remained SBIR active as a subsidiary of Bren-Tronics, itself a small firm. With mature products and a cutting-edge technology, UltraCell has been working in the space of lightweight fuel cells for the portable power market The portable battery chargers produced by UltraCell were, at thetime, the only NATO approved fuel cell products made in the USA (and one of the only two across NATO), with units deployed in the field by military and security agencies. Employing an exclusive license from Department of Energy's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) for micro fuel cell technology based upon reforming methanol into hydrogen reformate using proprietary technology in the fuel reformer and hydrogen fuel cell stack, Ultracell was originally formed to commercialize an advanced Reformed Methanol Micro Fuel Cell (RMFC) technology from that exclusive license. Developing and manufacturing complete micro fuel cell systems for portable devices, the firm has developed new technologies and IP in the field of methanol-based fuel cellsthis technology enabling a breakthrough in micro fuel cell performance. The first to commercialize RMFC technology to provide clean renewable energy to power portable electronics, UltraCell's XX25 micro fuel cell system lead the industry with its ultra-compact size and light weight: the only system in its class to have undergone extensive Military Specification qualification testing and field trials.
