Ambient Photonics Raised $31M Series A
Ambient will build the world’s largest U.S.-based low-light solar cell production facility in the US.
Mill Valley, Calif., May 10, 2022 — Ambient Photonics today announced it has raised a $31 million Series A financing, led by Amazon via its Climate Pledge Fund and Ecosystem Integrity Fund (EIF), with Tony Fadell’s Future Shape and I Squared Capital participating. With this financing, Ambient will build the world’s largest U.S.-based low-light solar cell production facility. The facility’s fully automated production line and capacity for tens of millions of units per year will enable Ambient to scale its low-cost, high-power density solar cells to mass market adoption.
“The future of IoT and connected devices is energy harvesting, and that future requires massive scale,” said Ambient CEO Bates Marshall. “This financing empowers us to deliver our industry leading technology to some of the world’s highest volume IoT device manufacturers with significant decarbonization impact. We’re opening up entirely new possibilities for products that are designed from the ground up from more sustainable energy sources.”
Ambient’s first-of-its-kind low-light energy harvesting photovoltaic (PV) technology generates as much as three times more power than conventional technology, harvesting energy across the entire light spectrum – including both artificial and natural light. By eliminating disposable batteries or reducing rechargeable battery mass, Ambient’s world leading IoT and smart home device partners, like Universal Electronics Inc. (UEI), are able to offer their customers significant operational and environmental benefits. This not only reduces landfill waste but also the carbon footprint of battery-powered devices by up to 80 percent.
“EIF invests in innovations that help industry leaders solve tough sustainability and business problems at scale. We believe Ambient has the potential to catalyze more sustainable systems across growing global industries, including consumer electronics, smart home and IoT. Ambient’s technology offers the first viable solution to cost-effectively power these devices with clean, renewable energy,” said Sasha Brown, partner at EIF
In keeping with its plans to scale low-light energy harvesting production facilities, Ambient will also continue to progress its Part II application for a $162 million loan guarantee under the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Title XVII Loan Guarantee Program. The facilities are projected to generate hundreds of local U.S. jobs while contributing to transformative reductions in Scope 3 emissions. These indirect emissions within a company’s supply chain often represent the majority of organizational emissions. Reducing Scope 3 emissions provides one of the largest sustainability opportunities for the world’s connected device manufacturers, while also creating resilience against potential future regulations.
“Disposable batteries are both a consumer inconvenience and a significant environmental problem,” stated Matt Peterson, director of The Climate Pledge Fund at Amazon. “We are excited that through The Climate Pledge Fund we will invest in Ambient to help in their path toward creating innovative solutions to decrease the carbon footprint of battery-operated devices across industries.”
“IoT sensors are everywhere. And each one has a battery that gets replaced and added to toxic trash,” said Tony Fadell, Nest founder and author of Build. “Ambient Photonics’ revolutionary low light solar cells bring us within reach of the Holy Grail: a batteryless, wireless IoT network.”
To discover more about endless power for connected devices, download the Ambient Technology Brief here: ambientphotonics.com/technology.
About Ambient Photonics
Ambient Photonics was founded in 2019 in California to bring low light energy harvesting technology to mass scale. Ambient’s technology was originally developed at the Warner Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry and funded since inception by Cthulhu Ventures LLC. The company’s low light solar PV cells deliver ground-breaking power density from a broader spectrum of ambient light, inspiring a new era in connected device form and function. Ambient works with leading global smart home and IoT device manufacturers on embedded solar cells to deliver superior design possibilities, performance, sustainability and consumer convenience. Explore endless power at: ambientphotonics.com.
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Christine Bennett for Ambient Photonics