Inspire Sets Sights On Battery R&D Venture

Inspire's fund management unit and other stakeholders will help Japan's battery developer Enax Inc. build plants, obtain equipment leases and sell to overseas manufacturers. The fund aims to take Enax public in fiscal 2009. Enax was founded in 1996 by Kazunori Ozawa, who engaged in the development of lithium-ion batteries at Sony Corp. The venture has been developing such batteries for electric bicycles, marine research vessels and robots.