In addition, the company intends to validate the service life of its technology according to strict automotive standards and prepare its own manufacturing processes for large-scale industrial rollout, as Hyperdrives announced on the occasion of the completed pre-seed financing. The financing round was led by Rethink Ventures, with participation from First Momentum Ventures, SDAC, Acequia Capital, 2100 Ventures, Prototype Capital and “several renowned angel investors.” As usual, no details were given on how the three million euros were distributed among the investors or what shares they received in the company.
Hyperdrives develops electric motors for electric cars and describes the technology as a ‘turbocharger for electric drives’. Contrary to what this marketing description and the company name suggest, however, the electric motors are not intended for the high-end segment of electric hypercars, but rather as cost-effective (yet powerful) drives for the mass market, helping to make electric cars more affordable. Hyperdrive’s approach to achieving this primarily concerns cooling.
Hyperdrives has been working on patented waveguide cooling technology since 2021. According to the startup, it achieves “record power densities at drastically lower costs” because it does not require any special materials or completely new motor concepts and can be industrialised on the basis of existing production lines. “This results in electric motors that are smaller, lighter and more efficient, creating an unprecedented cost-performance ratio for automotive, aviation and marine applications,” the company says. “OEMs and suppliers benefit from significant material and cost savings, while end customers get vehicles that go further, accelerate faster and are more affordable.”
Today’s electric motors are cooled indirectly, for example, via water jacket cooling or oil cooling. “This creates temperature hotspots in the windings, which limit the current carrying capacity and reduce efficiency,” explains Hyperdrives. The startup relies on a low-viscosity coolant that flows directly through the copper conductors of the hairpin windings in the stator and is designed to dissipate heat exactly where it is generated. “The result is continuous current densities that are three times higher than in today’s series motors,” the company stated. Since this allows more power to be extracted from the same basic stator and rotor architecture, the effect of the new cooling system is similar to that of a turbocharger in a combustion engine – hence the marketing name. Hyperdrives states that the patented design is “robust, reliable and compatible with existing hairpin production lines – unlike previous approaches to waveguide cooling.”
Hyperdrives already manufactures drive systems with integrated SiC inverters “in small to medium quantities” for automotive, aviation and marine customers – the company has built up a customer base without external capital and, according to its own figures, achieved sales of over one million in 2024. Hyperdrives intends to expand its own business with financing from venture capital companies. This is not only based on its own in-house production: Hyperdrives offers technology licences to large-scale manufacturers and suppliers for their own production.
“Over three product generations, we have proven that this breakthrough in motor performance does not require exotic materials or new production concepts,” says co-founder Robin Renz, who is active as CEO of Hyperdrives. “With the new tailwind from our investors, we will strengthen our team in a targeted manner to prove the service life according to automotive standards, accelerate the market launch and consistently prepare for the step towards industrialisation.”
Michael Numberger, also co-founder and CTO of the company, added: “Our breakthrough lies in bringing waveguide cooling to industrialisation. Direct cooling in the copper conductor allows us to achieve up to three times higher current densities than today’s series motors – more power in the same space or the same power with significantly lower weight. With this funding, we can subject the technology to the toughest automotive tests and prove that it works not only in the laboratory but also on an industrial scale.”
The two founders have convinced several investors with this approach. “Hyperdrives solves one of the toughest trade-offs in e-mobility: maximum performance and efficiency with true scalability,” explained Matthias Schanze, General Partner at Rethink Ventures. “Their waveguide platform is the first to combine motorsport power density with VW-level costs and manufacturing. That’s why we’re delighted to support the Hyderdrives team and lead this oversubscribed round.”
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This article was first published by Sebastian Schaal for electrive’s German edition.
