NTU-incubated Amperesand raises $12.4m from Temasek arm, others

Photo credit: Shutterstock

Amperesand, a Singapore-based electrical infrastructure company, has raised over US$12.4 million in seed funding. Xora Innovation, Temasek’s deeptech early-stage investment platform, co-led the round with venture capital firm Material Impact.

TDK Ventures, the venture arm of Japanese electronics firm TDK, also participated, along with Foothill Ventures.

Incubated at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Amperesand offers grid infrastructure solutions that can help improve EV charging hardware. Built on solid-state transformer (SST) technology, Amperesand’s system contains high-frequency transformers that are more efficient than traditional ones.

The firm has been aiming to commercialize its SST systems, which can be used for applications that have large power requirements. These include fast-charging solutions for electric vehicles, microgrids, and data centers.

The seed funding will enable Amperesand to industrialize and manufacture its technology at scale.

“The time for commercialization of SSTs is now,” said Phil Inagaki, managing director at Xora Innovation.

Founded by veterans from ABB, General Electric, Siemens, and Vestas, Amperesand began as an SST research and development program at NTU. While the company was established in 2023, the program started seven years ago.

See also: Southeast Asian investors bullish on electric bikes, clean energy in 2024