PowerbyProxi Announces $5m in Series C Funding; TE Connectivity Takes Equity Position
TE Connectivity and PowerbyProxi today announced a new partnership combining TE's history and market position in the industrial connector space with PowerbyProxi's expertise and intellectual property in wireless power. PowerbyProxi today also announced it has closed a $5 million Series C funding round. TE has taken an equity stake in PowerbyProxi and existing investor, New Zealand venture capital firm, Movac, also participated in the round.
"Our proven innovation and miniaturization in the field of wireless power transfer was compelling to TE and we are excited to work with the TE team on the future of wireless power " said Greg Cross, Executive Chairman of PowerbyProxi. "This new round of investment demonstrates faith in the growth of this sector and the milestones we have achieved. We will use the funds to grow our international sales and customer support structures and to accelerate the development of new technology platforms," said Cross.
The first outcome of PowerbyProxi's partnership with TE is the ARISO Contactless Connectivity Platform, a miniaturized contactless connectivity solution, small enough to be easily integrated into new applications for industrial machinery and equipment. The new line of non-contact couplers, being sold and marketed by TE, incorporates PowerbyProxi's Proxi-Wave technology, which is ideal for miniaturization. The platform offers the smallest footprint solution available for contactless power connectivity on manufacturing machinery and equipment for sensor and control applications.
TE is now manufacturing evaluation kits so its customers can test the hardware in their own environments, alongside TE's field engineers. The ARISO Contactless Connectivity system is 70% smaller than currently available systems and brings the possibility of wireless power transfer to applications where it was previously considered impossible.
"Our investment in PowerbyProxi highlights our commitment to contactless connectivity and to the development of solutions to help our customers with their power connection needs," said Ulrich Wallenhorst, chief technology officer of TE Industrial. "PowerbyProxi possesses innovative design capabilities in wireless power transmission that complement the TE Know How and technologies, resulting in a proven working partnership. We look forward to working together on expanding current products and developing new solutions."
