French wireless charging startup raises €3m
Rather than using induction or resonance contactless wireless charging, the ‘Power by Contact’ technology developed by Energysquare uses contacts on the terminal, whether a smartphone or laptop, placed on a large area charging pad. The contacts include a data link to provide maximum fast charging rates and this a key advantage over the other contactless wireless charging technologies say the founders. Multiple devices can be powered on the tiled charging mat.
The backing comes from Paris venture capital fund Partech to license the technology to designers and manufacturers in the US and Asia to include the contacts in electronic equipment.
“Leaders in the electronics industry have invested billions over the past decade, yet they have been struggling significantly with wireless charging,” said Timothée Le Quesne, CEO of Energysquare. “Today’s solutions are not very user-friendly, they waste a lot of energy, and are much slower than a wire charger. With Power by Contact technology, we offer a radically different vision of wireless charging. Our goal is to bring to the market a new standard of wireless charging, based on a powerful conductive technology, without energy loss, and as fast as a conventional charge.”
“This new round of financing will enable us to accelerate our development in Asia and the United States, where the main manufacturers of electronic devices are located, and to provide our customers with the best possible support on the spot” said Le Quesne. An office in Taiwan has already been opened.
The technology makes it very easy to move from one workstation or meeting room to another, without worrying about the battery level of electronic devices, he says. It can also automate the connection with work or presentation screens using WiFI6 links.
Energysquare already has a portfolio of international patents, registered with the support of France Brevets, and a deal with computer maker Lenovo, which has embedded the technology in a laptop.
Following this partnership, and with the ambition to become the next wireless charging standard by licensing its technology to leading manufacturers in the industry, Energysquare convinced Partech to participate in the venture by leading this new round of financing.
“When [the founders] Timothée and Daniel came to present their technology and strategy, we were all very impressed by what this young team had managed to develop in a few years when electronic giants have been persistently pursuing induction-based technologies for decades, without being able to develop a viable technology. It’s an incredible feat on the part of this team to have taken up the challenge of conduction totally at the opposite end of the market, creating a 100 per cent functional technology and then convincing a major industrialist in such a short time,” said Alison Imbert, Investment Director at Partech.
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