Singapore: Singapore-based startup receives $12.5 million in funding for electricity transformers

Singapore-based startup Amperesand, which makes SSTs that could replace standard transformers in electricity distribution, has been given $12.5 million in funding to develop solid-state transformers (SSTs), which could make electricity grids more efficient and flexible.

"We are thrilled to partner with Amperesand, a company tackling a critical issue that threatens the entirety of global electrification," said Nicolas Sauvage, president of TDK Ventures. "Their solid-state transformer technology has the potential to shore up power infrastructure to handle the already present EV future and do so in an efficient, reliable, sustainable way."

The investment round is led by Xora Innovation, Temasek’s early-stage arm, and Material Impact, with TDK Ventures and Foothill Ventures also taking part. Amperesand has spun out of the Nanyang Technological University of Singapore (NTU), and proposes SSTs as a way to upgrade the grid to allow more customizable AC/DC output at multiple locations.

“The scale of what people are contemplating to deploy in the world with EV charging creates the largest market for transformers,” said Phil Inagaki, who is Amperesand’s interim CEO - and also managing director at the lead investor, Xora.