Phononic Vibes, a Deeptech startup developing innovative solutions for noise and vibration reduction, announces the closing of a 2.3 M€ capital increase.
The startup already raised 0.5 M€ in January 2019 with a first seed round led by Poli360 a fund dedicated to technology transfer managed by 360 Capital, and with the participation of Pantecnica Spa – an Italian company focused on products and systems for vibration insulation and mitigation.
Eureka Fund I, Technology Transfer – a fund managed by EUREKA Venture SGR and dedicated to investments in innovative ideas steaming out from Italian Universities and Research Centers in the advanced materials field – joins existing investors as lead-investor in this round. Poli360 and Pantecnica SpA continue to support the company re-investing in this new round.
“We are proud to welcome among our shareholders Eureka!, a venture capital fund with deep know-how in tech transfer. In this challenging time, this investment allows us to continue our growth and work together with our national and international clients, which already proved to believe in our company and in our advanced technological solutions. I would also thank our team and advisors who played an important role in achieving this milestone.” says Luca D’Alessandro, CEO and co-founder of Phononic Vibes.
“The Italian Deeptech ecosystem is growing and we are proud to be an active player of it as a spin-off of Politecnico di Milano,” he added.
Phononic Vibes was founded in 2018 as a Politecnico di Milano spin-off by a group of researchers willing to create a new business starting from the technical knowledge developed at PoliMi and Boston’s MIT in the field of metamaterials, i.e. advanced materials whose acoustic and vibrations control performances are defined by the shape and topology of the unit cell and therefore are independent from the raw material itself.
Based on this innovative technology and the proprietary patents, Phononic Vibes develops and markets solutions to protect against noise and vibration allowing cost reduction and performance increase compared to traditional solutions commonly used in the market for acoustic and vibration treatment.
Phononic Vibes is currently consolidating its presence in sectors in which noise and vibration topic is extremely relevant and where metamaterials showed a high innovation potential. In infrastructures, Phononic Vibes has developed and successfully tested with Deutsche Bahn an underground panel with high performances in terms of vibration reduction; in automotive and appliances, it has built commercial partnerships with multinational corporates for the application of metamaterials inside vehicles and home appliances; in building sector, it is developing in partnership with major building contractors an innovative panel to reduce noise disturbance in building sites.
The new financial resources will be used to invest in products’ development for the above mentioned sectors, to expand the clients portfolio and finally to strengthen the team, currently composed of 11 people, with new competencies related to product manufacturing and commercialization.
EUREKA Venture SGR has been assisted by MJH Alma ( Roberto Nigro and Sara Aratari), 360 Capital by Studio Giovannelli e Associati (Gianvittorio Giroletti and Paola Cairoli), the Company by Studio Garbagnati.
Stefano Peroncini, CEO of EUREKA Venture SGR – manager of Eureka Fund I – Technology Transfer, said, “In Italy we have an extraordinary investment potential in Deeptech and technology transfer, whose goal is to transfer scientific research into products that can benefit the entire community. Consistent with this vision, Phononic Vibes team was able in a very short amount of time to go from the academic laboratory idea to the realization of proof-of-concept projects with industrial partners and it is now ready to move ahead and face the market challenge. “
Cesare Maifredi, General Partner of 360 Capital – manager of the Poli360 fund – said, “I am proud to see that the first investment of the Poli360 fund has already been able to attract the interest of new investors. Phononic Vibes is the example of how innovative companies can be created only with the proper match between professional and patient investors and talented young entrepreneurs. Poli360 will continue to support the best technological spin-offs of PoliMi and more generally of the country. “
Ferruccio Resta, Rector of the Politecnico di Milano, said: “Today we are witnessing an important result with a double value. The startup of the Politecnico di Milano Phononic Vibes has found its place among the industrial solutions working on important issues such as acoustic comfort and vibration control, a crucial matter for environmental sustainability.
This result also shows the success of the path started by Politecnico Di Milano, which has the aim of giving value to the results of its research, creating new businesses and bringing them to the market. From the research in our laboratories to the incubation in PoliHub through the support of Poli360 and Eureka!, today’s result reward us as a team and a system.”