DENVER, April 23 /PRNewswire/ --

Altira Group LLC, a pioneer and leader in venture capital and private
equity funding for energy technology companies, today announced a pair of
significant investments totaling US$17.5MM in the renewable energy sector.

Continuing to demonstrate its commitment to helping meet global energy
demand, Altira made lead investments in two strategic companies, EPS Corp of
Costa Mesa, CA and Lilliputian Systems, Inc. (LSI) of Wilmington, MA.

"Even in this demanding economic climate, our national energy challenges
remain," said Dirk McDermott, Managing Partner for Altira Group LLC, a
Denver-based venture capital firm. "We believe that many of these challenges
will be solved by technological advances across the entire energy value
chain. There are good innovative companies out there which offer great
investment opportunities and we are investing in them."

Leading the investment in EPS Corp with US$10MM, Altira secured
participation from its partners bringing the total round to US$30MM. EPS is
the leading energy intelligence company that develops and implements
analytic, efficiency and clean solutions for Fortune 500 companies. The EPS
Way(TM) is an innovative, three-step strategy that follows three simple
tenets: 1) Measure and control what you have, 2) Repair and replace what is
inefficient, and 3) Shift to new and alternative energy options. The
company's suite of services target the industrial manufacturing sector, and
its product and services support industry leaders in the food and beverage
sector nationwide.

"Providing entrepreneurs an opportunity to solve our energy challenges is
very rewarding," said Jim Newell, Partner at Altira. "EPS can change the way
we address energy problems, offering a solution to every facet of electricity
and thermal production, measurement, and consumption. They offer solutions
immediately available today to address our national energy challenges."

Altira also led the US$28MM funding for LSI with US$7.5MM, helping ensure
the timely commercial launch of Lilliputian's products. Lilliputian Systems,
Inc. ("Lilliputian") has developed the world's first Personal Power(TM)
solution for consumer electronic devices. The Company's breakthrough solution
delivers the only viable, small form-factor battery replacement that provides
the enormous run-time improvements demanded by today's devices, delivering a
5-10x run-time improvement (or a 10-20x improvement on a weight basis) at a
fraction of the cost.

The technology is based on highly efficient, solid oxide fuel cell and
MEMS-based technology, and runs on high energy fuels like butane. The
technology is reliable, safe (approved for use on aircraft) and
environmentally friendly. The extended run-time and "instant recharge"
features of the butane cartridges allow Lilliputian's product family to
provide essentially infinite power to the user.

"Finding solutions for our energy challenges today is a priority for
Altira," said Hull McKinnon, Principal at Altira. "Features and functions for
consumer electronics devices are demanding power at an increasing rate and
current battery technologies are barely keeping up. The Personal Power
solution is the kind of disruptive technology that will address this problem
and change the US$50BN consumer electronics market."

About Altira Group

Altira Group LLC (www.altiragroup.com) is a Denver-based private equity
and venture firm that has profitably invested in energy technology companies
for over 13 years. Their portfolio includes companies in both the traditional
and renewable energy sectors. Altira pursues opportunities to commercialize
transformative technologies that drive efficiency and productivity gains
throughout the energy value chain, while reducing the carbon footprint.

Altira is currently investing out of its fifth fund. The typical initial
investment in a portfolio company is in the US$5-US$15 MM range, with
follow-on investments as warranted. Altira seeks investment opportunities led
by experienced and dedicated management teams who are commercializing new
energy technologies with high growth potential.