Connect with us

Technology

Photoncycle aims to store energy cheaply using a clever hydrogen solution

Published

on

The solar energy sector has been fighting interseasonal energy storage for years. The ability to harness surplus solar energy through the summer months for winter use stays an elusive goal, with existing solutions equivalent to batteries becoming insufficient due to prohibitive costs and limited lifespan. Meanwhile, hydrogen, despite its clean-burning properties, has been sidelined due to inefficiency and high costs.

Photoncycle — a startup emerging from the depths of an accelerator on the Oslo Science Park in Oslo, Norway — is working on a solution. Startup claims that with a vision as clear because the summer sun, solid hydrogen technology can store energy more efficiently ammonia synthesis reactor. The claim is that this technology provides more economical storage than every other battery or liquid hydrogen solution available on the market.

A diagram showing Photoncycle’s vision of a complete system installed in a home. Image credits: Photocycle

“Lithium-ion batteries use expensive metals. Our material is super cheap: storing 10,000 kilowatt hours costs about $1,500, so it’s almost nothing. In addition, our data storage solution is 20 times more dense than a lithium-ion battery and does not waste electricity,” explains founder and CEO Bjørn Brandtzaeg in an interview with TechCrunch. “This means we have a system where energy can be stored over time, allowing for seasonal storage. This is completely different from traditional batteries.”

Photoncycle uses water and electricity to produce hydrogen. This in itself will not be unusual in the event you follow fuel cell vehicle technology. However, the corporate’s approach includes an progressive twist: a reversible, high-temperature fuel cell. This advanced fuel cell can produce hydrogen and generate electricity in the identical device.

The core of Photoncycle’s innovation is hydrogen processing. They process hydrogen after which use technology to convert and store it in solid form. The company claims that this storage method will not be only secure due to the non-flammable and non-explosive nature of the solid, but in addition highly efficient. It enables the storage of hydrogen with a density roughly 50% greater than liquid hydrogen, which is a significant advance in hydrogen storage solutions. These innovations form the cornerstone of the Photoncycle system, facilitating the secure and dense storage of hydrogen, which the corporate says represents a huge breakthrough in energy technology.

Current clean energy solutions, equivalent to rooftop solar, are limited by inconsistent supplies due to the unpredictable nature of weather conditions. A sturdy reusable energy storage solution could overcome these schedules, ensuring a stable energy supply when these renewable sources encounter inevitable intermittent periods.

Great in theory, but not without its own challenges.

“The Netherlands is the country in Europe with the highest density of rooftop solar energy. We are currently seeing huge growth due to high energy prices; everyone wants rooftop solar,” Brandtzaeg says. However, he adds that this method can backfire for homeowners: “Last July within the Netherlands in the midst of the day it was 500 euros per megawatt hour to export electricity

Placing energy storage along with an energy-producing house effectively allows homes to be disconnected from the grid. Photoncycle says it has tested and worked with the core components of its solution – the following step is to integrate it into the system. The company says that if successful, it could seriously threaten Powerwall, Tesla’s lithium-ion battery solution.

David Gerez, CTO at Photoncycle, and Ole Laugerud, Photoncycle chemist, in Photoncycle’s purpose-built laboratory, which has been operating for nearly two years. Image credits: Photocycle

“It’s a relatively complex system – that’s why so many PhDs from different fields are working on it. The reason why Elon Musk said hydrogen is stupid is because you lose a lot of energy when you convert electricity into hydrogen and vice versa,” says Brandtzaeg. He believes his company can turn this bug into a feature. “In residential buildings, where 70% of energy demand is for heating, it is possible to use excess heat to provide hot water. We will focus on markets where people currently use natural gas for heating, and then we will replace the gas boiler in the home, using existing water infrastructure.”

Brandtzaeg’s confidence within the operational framework of the concept is convincing. He pointed to a small model of their operating facility within the labs, scaled down to the scale of a automobile battery. Brandtzaeg believes this scaling needs to be seamless and cites it because the primary reason they felt confident in implementing the project.

When it comes to providing power, hydrogen takes a while to generate electricity, so for buffering, the corporate relies on an intermediate, more conventional battery to balance the load. The company definitely attracts the eye of investors: Photocycle has just raised $5.3 million (€5 million) to construct the primary few energy storage devices in Denmark, which Photoncycle has chosen as its test market.

“Based on the interest, we could have raised 10 times more than we did. However, after this increase, I am still the majority owner,” says Brandtzaeg. “I wanted to maintain control of the company for as long as possible and not raise more capital than necessary to bring this service to market.”

This article was originally published on : techcrunch.com
Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Technology

The company is currently developing washing machines for humans

Published

on

By

Forget about cold baths. Washing machines for people may soon be a brand new solution.

According to at least one Japanese the oldest newspapersOsaka-based shower head maker Science has developed a cockpit-shaped device that fills with water when a bather sits on a seat in the center and measures an individual’s heart rate and other biological data using sensors to make sure the temperature is good. “It also projects images onto the inside of the transparent cover to make the person feel refreshed,” the power says.

The device, dubbed “Mirai Ningen Sentakuki” (the human washing machine of the longer term), may never go on sale. Indeed, for now the company’s plans are limited to the Osaka trade fair in April, where as much as eight people will have the option to experience a 15-minute “wash and dry” every day after first booking.

Apparently a version for home use is within the works.

This article was originally published on : techcrunch.com
Continue Reading

Technology

Zepto raises another $350 million amid retail upheaval in India

Published

on

By

Zepto, snagging $1 billion in 90 days, projects 150% annual growth

Zepto has secured $350 million in latest financing, its third round of financing in six months, because the Indian high-speed trading startup strengthens its position against competitors ahead of a planned public offering next yr.

Indian family offices, high-net-worth individuals and asset manager Motilal Oswal invested in the round, maintaining Zepto’s $5 billion valuation. Motilal co-founder Raamdeo Agrawal, family offices Mankind Pharma, RP-Sanjiv Goenka, Cello, Haldiram’s, Sekhsaria and Kalyan, in addition to stars Amitabh Bachchan and Sachin Tendulkar are amongst those backing the brand new enterprise, which is India’s largest fully national primary round.

The funding push comes as Zepto rushes so as to add Indian investors to its capitalization table, with foreign ownership now exceeding two-thirds. TechCrunch first reported on the brand new round’s deliberations last month. The Mumbai-based startup has raised over $1.35 billion since June.

Fast commerce sales – delivering groceries and other items to customers’ doors in 10 minutes – will exceed $6 billion this yr in India. Morgan Stanley predicts that this market shall be value $42 billion by 2030, accounting for 18.4% of total e-commerce and a pair of.5% of retail sales. These strong growth prospects have forced established players including Flipkart, Myntra and Nykaa to cut back delivery times as they lose touch with specialized delivery apps.

While high-speed commerce has not taken off in many of the world, the model seems to work particularly well in India, where unorganized retail stores are ever-present.

High-speed trading platforms are creating “parallel trading for consumers seeking convenience” in India, Morgan Stanley wrote in a note this month.

Zepto and its rivals – Zomato-owned Blinkit, Swiggy-owned Instamart and Tata-owned BigBasket – currently operate on lower margins than traditional retail, and Morgan Stanley expects market leaders to realize contribution margins of 7-8% and adjusted EBITDA margins to greater than 5% by 2030. (Zepto currently spends about 35 million dollars monthly).

An investor presentation reviewed by TechCrunch shows that Zepto, which handles greater than 7 million total orders every day in greater than 17 cities, is heading in the right direction to realize annual sales of $2 billion. It anticipates 150% growth over the following 12 months, CEO Aadit Palicha told investors in August. The startup plans to go public in India next yr.

However, the rapid growth of high-speed trading has had a devastating impact on the mom-and-pop stores that dot hundreds of Indian cities, towns and villages.

According to the All India Federation of Consumer Products Distributors, about 200,000 local stores closed last yr, with 90,000 in major cities where high-speed trading is more prevalent.

The federation has warned that without regulatory intervention, more local shops shall be vulnerable to closure as fast trading platforms prioritize growth over sustainable practices.

Zepto said it has created job opportunities for tons of of hundreds of gig employees. “From day one, our vision has been to play a small role in nation building, create millions of jobs and offer better services to Indian consumers,” Palicha said in an announcement.

Regulatory challenges arise. Unless an e-commerce company is a majority shareholder of an Indian company or person, current regulations prevent it from operating on a listing model. Fast trading corporations don’t currently follow these rules.

This article was originally published on : techcrunch.com
Continue Reading

Technology

Wiz acquires Dazz for $450 million to expand cybersecurity platform

Published

on

By

Wizardone of the talked about names within the cybersecurity world, is making a major acquisition to expand its reach of cloud security products, especially amongst developers. This is buying Dazzlespecialist in solving security problems and risk management. Sources say the deal is valued at $450 million, which incorporates money and stock.

This is a leap within the startup’s latest round of funding. In July, we reported that Dazz had raised $50 million at a post-money valuation of just below $400 million.

Remediation and posture management – two areas of focus for Dazz – are key services within the cybersecurity market that Wiz hasn’t sorted in addition to it wanted.

“Dazz is a leader in this market, with the best talent and the best customers, which fits perfectly into the company culture,” Assaf Rappaport, CEO of Wiz, said in an interview.

Remediation, which refers to helping you understand and resolve vulnerabilities, shapes how an enterprise actually handles the various vulnerability alerts it could receive from the network. Posture management is a more preventive product: it allows a company to higher understand the scale, shape and performance of its network from a perspective, allowing it to construct higher security services around it.

Dazz will proceed to operate as a separate entity while it’s integrated into the larger Wiz stack. Wiz has made a reputation for itself as a “one-stop shop,” and Rappaport said the integrated offering will proceed to be a core a part of it.

He believes this contrasts with what number of other SaaS corporations are built. In the safety industry, there are, Rappaport said, “a lot of Frankenstein mashups where companies prioritize revenue over building a single technology stack that actually works as a platform.” It could be assumed that integration is much more necessary in cybersecurity than in other areas of enterprise IT.

Wiz and Dazz already had an in depth relationship before this deal. Merat Bahat — the CEO who co-founded Dazz with Tomer Schwartz and Yuval Ofir (CTO and VP of R&D, respectively) — worked closely with Assaf Rappaport at Microsoft, which acquired his previous startup Adallom.

After Rappaport left to found Wiz together with his former Adallom co-founders, CTO Ami Luttwak, VP of Product Yinon Costica and VP of R&D Roy Reznik, Bahat was one in all the primary investors. Similarly, when Bahat founded Dazz, Assaf was a small investor in it.

The connection goes deeper than work colleagues. Bahat and Rappaport are also close friends, and she or he was the second family of Mickey, Rappaport’s beloved dog, referred to as Chief Dog Officer Wiz (together with LinkedIn profile). Once the deal was done, the 2 faced two very sad events: each Bahat and Mika’s mother died.

“We hope for a new chapter of positivity,” Bahat said. The cycle of life does indeed proceed.

Rumors of this takeover began to appear earlier this month; Rappaport confirmed that they then began talking seriously.

But that is not the one M&A conversation Wiz has gotten involved in. Earlier this 12 months, Google tried to buy Wiz itself for $23 billion to construct a major cybersecurity business. Wiz walked away from the deal, which might have been the biggest in Google’s history, partly because Rappaport believed Wiz could turn into a fair larger company by itself terms. And that is what this agreement goals to do.

This acquisition is a test for Wiz, which earlier this 12 months filled its coffers with $1 billion solely for M&A purposes (it has raised almost $2 billion in total, and we hear the subsequent round will close in just a few weeks). . Other offers included purchasing Gem security for $350 million, but Dazz is its largest acquisition ever.

More mergers and acquisitions could also be coming. “We believe next year will be an acquisition year for us,” Rappaport said.

In an interview with TC, Luttwak said that one in all Wiz’s priorities now’s to create more tools for developers that have in mind what they need to do their jobs.

Enterprises have made significant investments in cloud services to speed up operations and make their IT more agile, but this shift has include a significantly modified security profile for these organizations: network and data architectures are more complex and attack surfaces are larger, creating opportunities for malicious hackers to find ways to to hack into these systems. Artificial intelligence makes all of this far more difficult when it comes to malicious attackers. (It’s also a chance: the brand new generation of tools for our defense relies on artificial intelligence.)

Wiz’s unique selling point is its all-in-one approach. Drawing data from AWS, Azure, Google Cloud and other cloud environments, Wiz scans applications, data and network processes for security risk aspects and provides its users with a series of detailed views to understand where these threats occur, offering over a dozen products covering the areas, corresponding to code security, container environment security, and provide chain security, in addition to quite a few partner integrations for those working with other vendors (or to enable features that Wiz doesn’t offer directly).

Indeed, Wiz offered some extent of repair to help prioritize and fix problems, but as Luttwak said, the Dazz product is solely higher.

“We now have a platform that actually provides a 360-degree view of risk across infrastructure and applications,” he said. “Dazz is a leader in attack surface management, the ability to collect vulnerability signals from the application layer across the entire stack and build the most incredible context that allows you to trace the situation back to engineers to help with remediation.”

For Dazz’s part, once I interviewed Bahat in July 2024, when Dazz raised $50 million at a $350 million valuation, she extolled the virtues of constructing strong solutions and this week said the third quarter was “amazing.”

“But market dynamics are what trigger these types of transactions,” she said. She confirmed that Dazz had also received takeover offers from other corporations. “If you think about the customers and joint customers that we have with Wiz, it makes sense for them to have it on one platform.”

And a few of Dazz’s competitors are still going it alone: ​​Cyera, like Dazz, an authority in attack surface management, just yesterday announced a rise of $300 million at a valuation of $5 billion (which confirms our information). But what’s going to he do with this money? Make acquisitions, after all.

Wiz says it currently has annual recurring revenue of $500 million (it has a goal of $1 billion ARR next 12 months) and has greater than 45% of its Fortune 100 customers. Dazz said ARR is within the tens of hundreds of thousands of dollars and currently growing 500% on a customer base of roughly 100 organizations.

This article was originally published on : techcrunch.com
Continue Reading
Advertisement

OUR NEWSLETTER

Subscribe Us To Receive Our Latest News Directly In Your Inbox!

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

Trending