C-Motive Technologies Inc. disclosed that Milwaukee’s Rockwell Automation participated in the Middleton electrostatic motor company’s latest capital raise, which totaled about $5.5 million.
C-Motive announced the Rockwell Automation (NYSE: ROK) equity investment when C-Motive debuted its new motor technology platform at Rockwell’s recent automation fair in Boston.
The exact amount of Rockwell’s investment wasn’t disclosed. A Rockwell executive described the company’s involvement as a non-controlling interest investment.
The decision on Rockwell’s investment ran through the company’s advanced technology group, which seeks “the next big, transformative things,” said Kyle Crum, director of advanced technology.
Crum called compelling C-Motive Technologies' description of itself as a clean-tech startup striving to create the world’s most energy efficient direct-drive motor technology. C-Motive says it uses electrostatic forces to produce motors that eliminate the need for any critical, rare earth metals and reduce copper usage by over 90%.
“It could fundamentally change the motor game,” Crum said Wednesday of C-Motive’s products under development.
Rockwell is an industrial automation and software firm that recorded revenue of about $9 billion in its latest fiscal year. Rockwell’s products include industrial drives, which eventually could have synergies with C-Motive products, but that’s not the reason Rockwell invested, Crum said.
As C-Motive matures, it could represent an important opportunity with dramatic applications for Rockwell customers, Crum said.
The latest funding round for C-Motive was led by Starlight Ventures of Miami during the first quarter of this year, C-Motive CEO Matt Maroon said Wednesday. The participants included both new and inside investors, he said.
To date, C-Motive has raised around $14.5 million in total investment, Maroon said.
C-Motive is wrapping up product development for its first product family while seeking demonstration partners for initial in-field pilot projects in 2024, Maroon said.
Company executives expect the pilot projects in 2024 “will inform any final changes to product before initial production launch in 2025,” Maroon said via email.
