by Debra Fiakas CFA
A comment left recently on one of my earlier articles mentioned Vendum Batteries, Inc. (VNDB: OTC/BB), a developmental stage company working on battery power solutions. When looking into Vendum I expected the usual flowery promises investors hear from every other battery developer – some new metal alloy for the electrodes, an alternative electrolyte, or maybe a creative form factor. However, Vendum is not just any battery “wanna-be.”
Ok, Vendum does have an alternative electrode, but it is not just a tweak of the usual metal mixes. It also has an alternative form factor, but even that is a drastic break from convention.
The Vendum battery electrodes are made from carbon nanotubes – hollow cylindrical structures with walls formed by a one-atom-thick sheet of carbon. The nanotube electrodes are wrapped in a sheet of cellulosic fiber very much like paper. One of the most intriguing elements of the battery is its disposable nature – none of the heavy metals or toxic solvents found in conventional batteries.
Vendum claims its prototype sheet of battery-paper can generate about 2.4 volts with a power density of about 0.6 milliamps per square centimeter. Stacking sheets of the battery one on top of the other could increase voltages.
The flexible structure of the Vendum battery design makes it ideal for small or irregularly-shaped electronics applications. Those singing greeting cards are near the top of Vendum’s initial list of target markets, but the company has even more ambitious applications in mind. For example, scaled up the batteries could be used to power side-impact airbags.
VNDM is the true penny stock – share price less than a dime, wide bid-ask spread, limited trading volume. It is a highly speculative security and thus only appropriate for investor with a steely-eyed tolerance for risk. Vendum has proven very little so far and while in compliance with SEC filing requirements even the most skilled investors will be challenged to complete adequate due diligence on Vendum.
All that said, we are adding Vendum to the Storage Group in The Mothers of Invention Index. It is worthwhile watching whether the Vendum group can get this technology offer the bench to the market.
Debra Fiakas is the Managing Director of Crystal Equity Research, an alternative research resource on small capitalization companies in selected industries.
Neither the author of the Small Cap Strategist web log, Crystal Equity Research nor its affiliates have a beneficial interest in the companies mentioned herein. VNDM is included in Crystal Equity Research’s The Mothers of Invention Index.
