Silicon Valley Executive & Venture Capitalist, Faysal Sohail appointed Executive Chairman of European Electric Vehicle Battery Company, InoBat Auto
The world's first battery company to develop intelligent batteries customised for any electric vehicle, InoBat Auto, has announced the appointment of Faysal Sohail as Executive Chairman.
The former Silicon Valley Executive will bring over 30 years of entrepreneurial and Venture Capital experience to InoBat Auto and will oversee development of a world-first artificial intelligence (AI) driven battery research centre and production line in the heart of Europe, which will begin producing its first batteries in 2021.
The EUR 100m 100 MWh R&D centre and production line, will be followed by a 10GWh Gigafactory in 2024 which will serve the European electric vehicle market with innovative and optimised batteries at scale.
Commenting on the importance of InoBat's approach, Executive Chairman of InoBat Auto, Faysal Sohailsaid:
"InoBat discovers and develops batteries customised to meet the highest performance, safety and cost needs of electric vehicles. The 'one size fits all' approach to making batteries is outdated and not sustainable, and we need to prioritise the technological and scientific approach to building intelligent batteries. InoBat is a world leader in this field already."
Sohail will retain his current post as Chairman of US-based Wildcat Discovery Technologies, strategic partners of InoBat Auto. He will now look to actively enhance InoBat bid to become a global force in the EV battery market directly from InoBat Auto's European Headquarters in Bratislava.
Having co-founded a number of successful US technology enterprises which have led to IPO or M&A exits, including Actel Corporation (NASDAQ:MCHP), Silicon Architects (NSADAQ:SNPS) and Cadabra Design (NASDAQ:SNPS). Sohail is currently Managing Director at Presidio Partners in San Francisco where he helped raise and successfully deploy over $800m. During his venture tenure, Sohail was involved in several battery investments including A123 Systems, the largest IPO in America in 2009.
Mr. Sohail added: "The electrification of transport is vital to the future development of our society, and a venture which I am passionate about. I am very impressed by the rapid progress and the novel scientific approach taken by InoBat Auto to deliver high performance and intelligent batteries. I look forward to moving to Slovakia to help build the company so as to achieve its global potential."
InoBat Auto aims to accelerate the rapid implementation of electromobility solutions in Europe by developing a fully integrated value chain, which will increase the global competitiveness of the European economy and provide a long-term sustainable solution to the automotive market.
Marian Bocek, Co-Founder and CEO of InoBat Auto commented: "We are delighted to welcome Faysal as our new Executive Chairman. He brings an incredible wealth of knowledge and experience with him from Silicon Valley to his new position here in Slovakia at InoBat, who will produce customised batteries for electric vehicle manufacturers as early as next year, something which no other company in Europe can offer."
InoBat is backed by a strong consortium of investors and technology companies, including lead investor IPM Group (IPM) - the fastest growing InfraTech asset managers who specialise in bringing ground-breaking technologies to Europe - strategic investors and partners include CEZ, Matador, AEN, MSM Group and Wildcat Discovery Technologies.
InoBat Auto | www.inobatauto.eu
