Amber Solutions Continues Expansion in the Power Management Space, Closes 2020 with Series B Funding Worth $8.5 Million
Solid-state architecture solutions provider Amber Solutions just announced the closure of an $8.5 Million Series B funding round.
This news comes after Amber Solutions secured several patents in 2020, related to digital AC/DC Enabler, an AC switch, a digital method to sense ground faults, and super-efficient LED light fixtures.
Image used courtesy of Amber.
Disruptive Product Applications
Speaking to EE Power, Amber Founder and CEO Thar Casey said the commercial release of the AC/DC Enabler and AC Switch, in particular, had a significant impact on the company’s growth.
“It has enabled us to support evaluation and validation of these core technologies with multiple customers and for very disruptive product applications like solid-state two-wire dimmer light switches that offer thinner form factors, premium flicker less dimming, no derating, near-universal LED bulb compatibility and more,” Casey said.
The successful validation and expanding demonstrable product applications deriving from the new patents would now be moving Amber’s partner discussions into a range of new specific product scope and market timing.
Weathering the Storm
Despite the company’s 2020 successes, the unprecedented year didn't hold back in its challenges.
“Covid-19 was a gut punch to be sure for Amber,” Casey said. “Yet we pivoted in and out of virtual offices got creative with customers and kept our momentum going.”
According to the CEO, the challenges gave the team energy, focus, and resolve.
“As we look back now, we are truly grateful to not just have weathered the storms of 2020 as a company (when so many others did not) but that we thrived: new discoveries, new patents, new customers, new product applications, and new industry innovation awards.”
Thar Casey. Image used courtesy of Amber.
In fact, the company is now starting 2021 with a number of achievements under its belt, including one as BIG Innovations 2021 Award winner, one as a CES 2021 Innovations Award honoree, and one as a 2021 Edison Award nominee.
Fostering Growth in the Power Management Space
The new funding will now help Amber Solutions develop new technologies for the power management space.
“Our funding is a natural evolution milestone for our business as we move from validation and core technologies to commercialization, qualification, certification, and productization,” Casey explains.
The CEO adds that the company is now focusing its investments on engineering team expansion to help Amber scale and support its partners go to market plans around solid-state electrical products.
Amber Solutions' AC/DC Enabler and AC Switch. Image used courtesy of Amber.
“This expansion includes finalization of the engineering architecture that will bring our breakthrough digital control of electricity in a highly disruptive silicon chip (An SOC – system on a chip),” Casey adds.
A Second Electrical Revolution
According to the executive, this year will see a multiplication of solid-state electrification applications, and Amber will be at the forefront of this phenomenon.
“We believe that 2021 will be the advent of solid-state electrification with embedded intelligence powered by Amber – a second electrical revolution,” Casey says.
“It’s one of the most significant, global technology upgrade opportunities, rivaling the solid-state TV or smartphone transformation from prior standards,” he explains. “Solid-state electrification is the opportunity to upgrade every electrical endpoint and every powered appliance globally.”
Moreover, Casey believes that while there are some companies in this space now, most of them are focused on single product applications, like higher-end solid-state circuit breakers.
“None of these companies have the breadth of technology IP, patents, and as wide a product application opportunity as Amber,” the CEO explains.
“Our technology can be in every electrical endpoint in every building on earth, embedding modern AI intelligence, and in the process modernizing the building electrical grid and revolutionizing building intelligence.”
This upgrade would consistently enhance devices’ safety, improving the value of smart connected IoT systems utilizing this modern architecture, and transforming building electrical infrastructure to fulfill Amber’s vision of truly smart buildings.
