我曾经在以前的文章中指出，投资公司最好不要用创始合伙人的姓名命名。我记得很清楚，那是发生在Thomas H. Lee公司从Thomas H. Lee Partners公司 （在改回该名称前，有段时间叫THL Partners）拆分之后。

    看来我们现在可以得出这样一个推论：公司也不能用成立所在地城市来命名，除非该城市的声誉与公司产品的核心价值相匹配【比如，星巴克全资拥有的子品牌“西雅图最好的咖啡”（Seattle's Best Coffee）】。

    现在我提这个问题，原因在于波士顿电池公司（Boston-Power）本周二宣布已通过风险资本和中国政府的资助，合计募集了逾1.25亿美元资金。作为获得后者投资的条件，波士顿电池公司计划将其运营地点从波士顿郊区迁到中国。除了要在中国新建一个大型工厂外，公司的高管团队也将移师北京。本月早些时候，该公司波士顿地区的首席执行官、首席财务官和营销总监纷纷撤退，或许就是为了给新的团队（虽然目前人选未定）腾出位置吧。

    搬迁意味着该公司将在美国裁员30人左右，但在中国将雇用数百名员工。波士顿电池在美国拥有一条试点生产线，但将继续保留其技术团队。公司创始人兼执行董事长克里斯蒂娜•兰佩-昂纳路德是留守人员之一（尽管仍与公司保持雇佣关系），她称该交易是波士顿电池公司迈向成功的最佳机会。

    她说：“我们仍将是一家全球性公司，但我们要把总部迁至市场所在的地区。得益于政策支持以及对技术的巨大需求，不论是电动车电池的生产还是安装，中国都将超过西方国家。”

    她似乎也在暗示，如果2009年波士顿电池公司被美国能源部（Department of Energy）选为15亿美元政府补贴的受益人之一，可能就不会有现在这个交易了。波士顿电池此前一直在申请1亿美元的补贴，用于在马萨诸塞州建造一个将雇用600人的电池厂。但公司的申请没能获得通过，补贴最终发放给了A123系统公司（A123 Systems ）等竞争对手。A123系统公司总部设在马萨诸塞州，利用政府补贴资金在密歇根州建了一家工厂。

    兰佩-昂纳路德解释说：“我也非常希望这个工厂能建在美国，但当时我们没能入选。也许是因为当时公司太年轻了，但不论是什么原因，我都是应该站出来承担后果的人员之一。”

    本轮融资金沙江创业投资基金（GSR Ventures ）出了大头，而风投公司橡树投资（Oak Investment Partners ）和邦德资产管理公司（Foundation Asset Management）也有份参与。但波士顿电池公司现有股东Venrock和Gabriel Venture Partners公司并未参与，不过兰佩-昂纳路德暗示他们可能会参与下一轮融资。波士顿电池公司并未透露在募集的1.25亿美元资金中风投公司和中国政府的出资明细。

    I once wrote that you shouldn't name an investment firm after its founding partners. Pretty sure that was after Thomas H. Lee split from Thomas H. Lee Partners (which for a while became THL Partners, before shifting back).

    Well, it seems we now have a corollary: You shouldn't name a company after the city in which it was founded – unless that city's reputation is central to your product (e.g. Seattle's Best Coffee).

    I raise the issue today because Boston-Power, an electric battery company, today announced that it has raised more than $125 million via a combination of venture capital and giveaways by the Chinese government. To get the last part, Boston Power plans to shift the locus of its operations from the Boston suburbs to China. Not only by building a massive new manufacturing facility, but also by putting its senior executive team in Beijing. Guess that's why its Boston-area CEO, CFO and head of marketing all left earlier this month – to be replaced by a new team that has not yet been identified.

    This means around 30 layoffs in the U.S. – where Boston-Power has a pilot production line, and will retain its technical team -- but hundreds of new workers in China.

    One of those staying behind (albeit in the company's employ) is founder and executive chairman Christina Lampe-Önnerud, who tells me that this deal is Boston-Power's best chance for success.

    We'll still be a global company, but we're moving our headquarters to where the market is," she says. "China is outpacing the Western world in terms of both electric battery manufacturing and deployment, due to a straight-forward policy and an enormous demand for technology."

    She also seemed to imply that Boston-Power might not have done this deal had the Department of Energy picked the company as a beneficiary of $1.5 billion in battery-related grants handed out in 2009. Boston-Power had been seeking $100 million to build a battery manufacturing plant in Massachusetts that would have employed 600 people, but got passed over in favor of rivals like A123 Systems (a Mass.-based company that built the stimulus-funded plant in Michigan).

    "I would have loved to see this facility built where we live, but we were not picked," Lampe-Önnerud explains. "I think our company was perhaps a bit too young but, whatever the reason, I was one of the people who had to deal with the consequences."

    GSR Ventures led the round, and was joined by return backers Oak Investment Partners and Foundation Asset Management. Existing Boston-Power shareholders Venrock and Gabriel Venture Partners were not listed, but Lampe-Önnerud suggests they may participate in an expansion tranche. The company is not breaking down how much of the $125 million-plus came from private investors, as compared to from the Chinese government.