Infinitum Electric, creator of the air-core motor (earlier post), announced $80 million in Series D funding to scale motor production to meet increasing demand. Infinitum Electric will use the investment to integrate vertically and automate production of its motors for the commercial and industrial market segments, and complete development and commercialization of a traction motor for the rapidly growing electric vehicle market, where its power density can significantly extend the range of electric vehicles.

Infinitum Electric’s patented air-core motor design replaces heavy iron used in traditional motors with a lightweight, printed circuit board to generate the same power in half the size and weight, at a fraction of the noise and carbon footprint created by conventional motors.

Riverstone Holdings led the round with Alliance Resource Partners, Applied Ventures, LLC, the venture capital arm of Applied Materials, Inc., and existing investors Cottonwood Technology Fund, Chevron Technology Ventures, Aventurine Partners, Energy Innovation Capital and Ajax Strategies participating, bringing the company’s total funding to date to $135 million. Other current shareholders include industry leaders Rockwell Automation and Caterpillar Venture Capital.

Since the launch of its IEs Series of motor systems in 2020, Infinitum Electric has secured customer agreements with more than $900 million in potential orders across a wide variety of companies in heavy industry, manufacturing, HVAC and transportation that aim to reduce energy and emissions with smaller, lighter, quieter, higher-efficiency motors.

Electric motors consume more than half of the world’s electricity today, and 800 million motors are sold annually worldwide, a number that has been increasing by 10% each year. Infinitum Electric says that its motors are 10% more efficient than conventional motors and offer a fully integrated system: motor, variable frequency drive (VFD) and embedded IoT in a single compact package.

With this latest round of funding, Infinitum Electric plans to expand high-volume production out of its facility in Tijuana, Mexico and will double its US workforce in 2022 with an additional 50 employees across its Round Rock and Spokane, Washington offices. Infinitum Electric also moved its headquarters to a larger facility in Round Rock, Texas to support the company’s rapid growth and expanding operations.