Electric motor company Infinitum announced it raised a further $35 million in its Series E funding, bringing the funding round’s total to $220 million, with proceeds aimed at accelerating the company’s growth and driving decarbonization with sustainable, high-efficiency motor systems.

Motors are the largest single end-user of energy, according to the IEA, consuming 53% of electricity globally, with significant increases in electricity demand expected over the next several years, as the industrial sector shifts to electrification.

Founded in 2016, Texas-based Infinitum aims to reduce electricity consumption in industrial motors. While current motors waste a significant amount of energy by only operating at a single speed, the company’s “air-core” motors have a built-in variable frequency drive (VFD) that reduces energy usage by running the motor at lower speeds when possible. The motor is 50% smaller and lighter, uses 66% less copper and consumes 10% less energy than traditional motors. Infinitum’s air-core motors replace the conventional copper-wound iron core stator with a lightweight printed circuit board stator that the company said is 10x more reliable. Infinitum motor systems use fewer raw materials in manufacturing and modular design allows for motors to be easily serviced, repaired, remanufactured or recycled to keep motors in service and out of landfills.

Ben Schuler, founder and CEO, Infinitum said:

“Millions of electric motors are needed each year to power AI, cool our buildings and electrify industrial workloads, and it’s critical for the planet that we choose to implement advanced, high-efficiency motors rather than conventional motors. We look forward to further expanding our company to meet customer demand and accelerate production of our sustainable motor systems.”

The new investments, from Marunouchi Innovation Partners and Rice Investment Group, follows the initial $185 million the company raised for Infinitum’s Series E round in late 2023.

Ichiro Miyoshi, CEO and Chief Investment Officer, Marunouchi Innovation Partners said:

“We believe Infinitum’s sustainable air-core motors are a proven climate tech solution with significant customer traction that can make an immediate impact in reducing electricity consumption across a broad range of applications. We look forward to bolstering the company’s rapid acceleration and decarbonization efforts to support our goals of achieving a carbon neutral society.”