Ambient Photonics
Assembly Line
What if You Never Had to Charge Your Gadgets Again?
After decades of trying, consumer electronics companies are rolling out a solar technology that mimics photosynthesis in plants. It lets devices charge indoors and, in some cases, can eliminate batteries entirely. This new tech is based on principles first explored by chemists in the 1960s and turned into workable solar cells in the 1980s. It’s taken until now for versions of these cells tough enough for consumer applications to be manufactured on the scale required for mainstream adoption.
Now, companies including Ambient Photonics and Exeger are offering solar cells of this kind, known as a “dye-sensitized solar cell.” They are lightweight, bendable, made from common materials, and can be manufactured cheaply, in a type of printing process. Sharp is also working on dye-sensitized solar cells, although its version is rigid, and made with the same equipment used to make LCD panels.
Ambient Photonics Raises $30M in Series A2 Funding
Ambient Photonics, a pioneer in low-light energy harvesting technology for connected devices, has secured $30 million in a Series A2 funding round. The round was led by Fine Structure Ventures, affiliated with the parent company of Fidelity Investments, and included new investors Helios Climate Ventures, Regeneration.VC, and Sustainable Future Ventures. Existing investors I Squared Capital, Ecosystem Integrity Fund, and Cthulhu Ventures also joined the raise.
Ambient will leverage the funding to expand its manufacturing capabilities and drive mass-market adoption of its proprietary low-light energy harvesting technology, which replaces disposable batteries in connected devices, such as remote controls, keyboards, mice, electronic shelf labels, and sensors. The company recently inaugurated its flagship manufacturing facility in Scotts Valley, California.