Novac, a start-up active in the production of supercapacitors for applications in energy, mobility and industry, announces that it has closed a seed round worth EUR 3.5 million underwritten by the Eureka! Fund – Technology Transfer managed by Eureka! Venture together with CDP Venture Capital and Galaxia, the national technology transfer hub for aerospace.
Novac was born in 2020 as a university start-up from the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, as part of the TACC (training for automotive companies creations) entrepreneurial path, with a team composed of former students from the same university: Matteo Bertocchi, Loris Bruzzi, Alessandro Fabbri and Aldo Girimonte. While in 2021 it was selected from among the eight start-ups that took part in the Motor Valley Accelerator course held in Modena, proving to be one of the most promising companies in the programme. Since 2023, Novac has been incubated in I3P, the innovative business incubator of the Politecnico di Torino, as part of the ESA BIC Turin incubation programme, managed by I3P with the technological support of the Politecnico di Torino and the Links Foundation, in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Italian Space Agency (ASI).
With the new resources obtained from the investors who believed in the project, the start-up will focus on the development of the innovative technology, focusing on the realisation of next-generation supercapacitors for more environmentally sustainable storage systems.
Supercapacitors provide high power and extremely fast charging times, making them ideal for handling power peaks and supporting batteries, which would otherwise suffer stress and premature degradation. Their use in combination with batteries improves their efficiency and prolongs their service life, assigning supercapacitors to handle power peaks and allowing batteries to operate in more stable and optimal conditions. Novac’s proprietary technology, which is covered by patents, can be integrated into electric or hybrid systems in the automotive, aerospace, maritime and industrial sectors, for a market with an estimated potential value of EUR 6.5 billion, reports a company note.
In the automotive sector, they optimise energy recovery during braking and provide instant power for rapid acceleration. In aerospace, they support critical operations such as powering SAR satellites and deploying solar panels without requiring oversized batteries. In the maritime sector, they improve the efficiency of port manoeuvres and hybrid propulsion, reducing fuel consumption. In industry, they stabilise energy in production lines and UPS systems, ensuring business continuity. Their integration ensures greater sustainability, better performance and economic efficiency by reducing operating and maintenance costs.
“We are thrilled to have successfully closed this seed round, a milestone for Novac. We thank Eureka! Venture and CDP Venture Capital for renewing their trust in our project and warmly welcome the Galaxia Technology Transfer Centre. Their entry is a confirmation of the great potential of our solution in the aerospace sector. With this investment, we will be able to scale up our technology through the construction of a pilot plant in 2025, bringing us ever closer to our goal of developing and producing high-performance supercapacitors in Italy,’ says Matteo Bertocchi, co-founder and CEO of Novac.
Anna Amati of Eureka! Venture, says: ‘We have followed Novac from the beginning, believing in the founders and their ability to build value. Today, in this new round, specifically dedicated to the realisation of the pilot line, we confirm and reinforce our trust in the team and the potential of their solutions. The entry of CDP Venture Capital also through the Galaxia Pole is an important confirmation for the company to validate its proprietary technology in the aerospace sector’.
“We are very satisfied with the development that Novac, which we have been supporting since the first edition of Motor Valley Accelerator, is undergoing,” comments Stefano Molino, head of the CDP Venture Capital Accelerator Fund. “With this new investment, which also involves the Galaxia national technology transfer pole, we confirm our trust in this team, which leads one of the most promising realities in the national panorama of technological innovation and which we strongly believe can play an increasingly central role in the electric mobility market.
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