The iron-core transformer is the 140-year old technology that props up both the electrical grid and AI companies. The devices are clunky but reliable, which explains why they’re still in use: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Yet as the data center power demand skyrockets and batteries and renewables carve out larger portions of the grid, the ancient technology might finally be hitting its limit. Fortunately, their electronic replacement — the solid state transformer — could be having its moment, and not a moment too soon.
In the last few months, startups specializing in solid state transformers have raised $280 million. The technology promises to slash the number of components needed by data centers, improve the stability of the grid, and shrink the footprint of power conversion equipment.
Now, Hyperscale Power says it can slim things down further. “We haven’t seen something that is as small as our system will be,” Daniel Rothmund, co-founder and CEO at Hyperscale Power, told TechCrunch.
To build a prototype of the transformer, Hyperscale recently raised a €5 million seed round led by World Fund and Vsquared Ventures, the company exclusively told TechCrunch.
In the past couple of years, the solid state transformer market went from nearly nonexistent to almost crowded. Among the competitors are Amperesand, which was incubated by Temasek’s early stage fund; DG Matrix, which counts industrial giant ABB as an investor; and Heron Power, which was founded by former Tesla executive Drew Bagnlino and is backed by Andreessen Horowitz. Together, they’ve raised over $330 million, according to PitchBook.
Hyperscale would appear to be late to the party, but both Rothmund and his co-founder Sami Pettersson have been working on the technology for a while. Rothmund, especially: he completed his PhD at ETH Zürich in part by designing and building a 99.1% efficient solid-state transformer.
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