TL;DR
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VSParticle is accelerating the development of advanced materials needed for the transition to net zero from years to weeks
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It has shipped six VSP-P1 Nanoprinters, which are empowering material discovery at global institutions across the US and Europe
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New funding brings the total raised to $23.5 million and will be used to scale up production and reach new markets, including Japan and industrial customers
Delft, 10th July 2024: VSParticle (VSP) – the leading supplier of nanoparticle synthesis and deposition tools – has raised a €6.5 million A2 extension round led by NordicNinja and previous investor Plural to continue its mission to unlock a century of material innovation in the next 10 years.
VSP’s revolutionary technology enables materials to be broken down to the size of nanoparticles and produced at the push of a button, allowing university researchers and commercial R&D teams to experiment to create new materials that will power next-generation products. It can take up to 10 years to discover new materials in a lab and a further five to bring them to mass production, but VSP’s technology is supporting teams to reduce the overall time of material discovery down to only one year.
Aiding new material discovery to power sustainable energy
VSParticle has shipped its flagship product, the VSP-P1 Nanoprinter, to teams across Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and North America including the Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, the San Francisco-based Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the Materials Discovery Research Institute (MDRI) in Chicago, and the Dutch Institute for Fundamental Energy Research over the past year, who are using it to accelerate material development for innovative industrial solutions.
In particular, VSP’s technology is enabling the mass production of catalyst-coated Porous Transport Layers (PTLs), which are the key components in electrolyzers and are essential to the production of green hydrogen. Green hydrogen is essential to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and power a more sustainable future for industries such as shipping, transport, heating, and aviation, yet the process currently relies on using scarce resources including platinum and iridium.
Customers are using VSP printers to develop new material combinations for PTLs, with a predicted 10x savings in scarce metals, such as iridium, and introduce new products faster and cheaper. By 2027, the first components that have been developed using VSP’s technology should be in the market, creating the end product that will support green hydrogen production. This will support global net zero goals – the IEA estimates that the world will need to produce 306 million tonnes of green hydrogen annually to reach carbon neutrality by 2050, with the EU and Japan, in particular, focusing on prioritizing this clean energy source.
Future-proofing material discovery
VSP empowers R&D teams in labs today and its future-proof technology positions it at the forefront of the self-driving lab revolution. An increasing number of VSP customers are pioneering autonomous labs that integrate robotics, AI, and high-throughput material synthesis to accelerate ground-breaking discoveries crucial for addressing urgent global challenges like sustainable energy. VSP’s advanced technology ensures top-tier material synthesis, paving the way for future innovations in nanotechnology and novel materials for the energy sector.
The new funding, which included participation from previous investor Hermann Hauser Investment, brings the total raised by VSParticle to €24.5 million. The new investment will be used to further the development of VSP’s technology so its next-generation printers have up to 100 times higher output and will also support the company in expanding to Japan and doubling down in the US and Europe.
Aaike van Vugt, co-founder and CEO of VSParticle, said: “Our technology is empowering university researchers and commercial R&D teams across the world to create new materials that will transform the production of green hydrogen and reduce emissions in carbon-intensive industries. We’re excited about the role VSParticle will play in tackling the climate crisis and we’re delighted to have the backing of NordicNinja and renewed support from Plural as part of this extension funding that will help us to reach more research teams across the world, including in Japan, to pave a new way for material discovery.”
Rainer Sternfeld, Partner at NordicNinja said: “VSParticle’s technology is transforming material innovation and, combined with AI, this will be the basis of world-changing discovery and synthesis over the next few years and decades. We’re delighted to be supporting the impressive VSP team to capitalise on the drive to scale the development of green hydrogen. We can’t wait to see what they achieve next.”
Taiga Ueta, Senior Associate at NordicNinja, said:
‘VSParticle has tremendous potential to revolutionise the discovery and production of new high-performing materials. These new materials will help in solving the many challenges that people are facing across de-carbonization and the use of precious metals. NordicNinja, as the largest Japanese fund in Europe, believes that given Japan’s history in manufacturing, Japan represents a huge potential market for VSParticle.’
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