Just recently, Deepdrive co-founder Felix Poernbacher revealed in the update interviewthat his startup would "raise new capital again soon." Now the time has come: With BMW i Ventures and the Continental Corporate Venture Capital Unit, the Munich-based company has won over two renowned venture capitalists in the mobility industry. Existing investors UVC Partners and Bayern Kapital are also joining the €15 million Series A round.
Deepdrive plans to use the fresh capital to launch industrial production of its engines and further expand its workforce. The startup also aims to meet the growing market demand. According to the company, it is already working with eight of the ten largest automobile manufacturers. The Munich-based company aims to bring the technology to market in large-scale production by 2026.
With Deepdrive's technology – a so-called radial flux twin-rotor motor including power electronics – a vehicle is expected to be able to travel 20 percent further and require 20 percent smaller batteries for the same range. Furthermore, the motor is expected to require fewer rare earths in production while maintaining the same power. The technology can be installed in production vehicles as both a central drive and a wheel hub drive.
Co-founder and Managing Director Felix Pörnbacher says:
"The efficiency of electric vehicles is one of the biggest challenges facing almost all automobile manufacturers. With our dual-rotor drive, we have been able to develop a key technology that addresses precisely this problem and is thus attracting extremely high levels of interest from the industry. With our focus on disruptive innovation coupled with professional large-scale production experience, we see ourselves as a pioneer of electrification for mobility. We now look forward to bringing this technology to the road together with our new, strong partners and existing supporters and winning the first series projects."
“Deepdrive will set new standards in e-mobility”
Marcus Behrendt, Managing Director at BMW i Ventures, comments on the investment:
"Deepdrive will set entirely new standards in e-mobility with its patented electric motor architecture. The highly efficient electric motors offer significant advantages in terms of weight, cost, and space utilization, thus enabling next-generation electric vehicles. Deepdrive's electric motor technology is designed for simple and cost-effective large-scale production. Scaling up to large-scale production is our stated goal. We are pleased that our involvement can help this new technology achieve a breakthrough."
Jürgen Bilo, Managing Director of the Continental Corporate Venture Capital Unit, adds:
"After evaluating the overall concept and the efficiency of the motor, we are convinced that Deepdrive can significantly advance the market penetration of electric mobility. This technology, combined with Deepdrive's excellent team, convinced us to invest in the company."
Andreas Unseld, General Partner at UVC Partners, assesses the new investment round as follows:
"The future of mobility is clearly electric. In recent years, we've seen strong adoption of electric vehicles, but range and cost remain challenges. Both are addressed by Deepdrive's innovative solution. The Series A we've just completed with BMW i Ventures and Continental's Corporate Venture Capital Unit demonstrates Deepdrive's competitiveness. We're very proud to welcome such great partners on the journey ahead. Deepdrive is a prime example of how the startup ecosystem, together with established companies, can develop and scale deep-tech solutions that keep Europe competitive and contribute to solving the climate crisis."
