DeepDrive closes €15 million Series A financing round

Landshut/Munich — Munich-based elec­tric motor start-up Deep­Drive has successfully comple­ted a Series A finan­cing round of 15 million euros. In addi­tion to the exis­ting inves­tors Bayern Kapi­tal with its Bava­rian Growth Fund and UVC Part­ners, which came on board a year ago, BMW i Ventures and the Corpo­rate Venture Capi­tal Unit of Conti­nen­tal AG are also invol­ved. The company is also supported by the renow­ned auto­mo­tive mana­ger and former Audi board member for deve­lo­p­ment Dr. Peter Mertens. The addi­tio­nal funds are inten­ded to inten­sify the path taken to start large-scale produc­tion of the highly effi­ci­ent e‑motor and to be able to respond in terms of person­nel to the further increase in demand.

Foun­ded in 2021, Deep­Drive has deve­lo­ped a radial flux dual rotor motor inclu­ding power elec­tro­nics that can be instal­led in produc­tion vehic­les as a central drive as well as a wheel hub drive, setting enti­rely new stan­dards in e‑mobility. The paten­ted archi­tec­ture has a higher torque and power density compared to other drive tech­no­lo­gies and solves funda­men­tal problems of other e‑vehicle concepts. For exam­ple, a vehicle with Deep­Drive tech­no­logy can travel 20 percent further on a fully char­ged charge, or requi­res 20 percent smal­ler batte­ries than the compe­ti­tion for the same range, enab­ling the next gene­ra­tion of low-cost elec­tric vehic­les. Less rare earths are also used in produc­tion — a clear sustaina­bi­lity advan­tage. Deep­Drive is curr­ently alre­ady working with eight of the top ten auto­ma­kers on various deve­lo­p­ment projects and plans to bring the dual-rotor engine to market in large-scale produc­tion by 2026.

The Deep­Drive team is alre­ady working with eight of the top ten OEMs and is on track to bring its tech­no­logy into mass produc­tion by 2026. Deep­Drive co-foun­­der and CEO Felix Pörn­ba­cher says: “The effi­ci­ency of e‑vehicles is one of the biggest chal­lenges facing almost all car manu­fac­tu­r­ers. With our double rotor drive, we have been able to deve­lop a key tech­no­logy that addres­ses precis­ely this problem and is thus attrac­ting extre­mely high inte­rest from indus­try. With our focus on disrup­tive inno­va­tion coupled with profes­sio­nal high-volume expe­ri­ence, we see oursel­ves as a pioneer of elec­tri­fi­ca­tion for mobi­lity. We look forward to working with our strong new part­ners and exis­ting support­ers to bring this tech­no­logy to the road and win initial volume projects.”

Bavaria’s Minis­ter of Econo­mic Affairs Hubert Aiwan­ger: “Deep Drive’s busi­ness model is an excel­lent fit for Bava­ria as an auto­mo­tive loca­tion. There is great econo­mic poten­tial in the plat­form for the deve­lo­p­ment of elec­tric vehic­les. That is why we are support­ing the start-up with the Bava­ria 2 Growth Fund.”

“The use of Deep­Drive motors can save considera­ble costs — another step towards making e‑mobility more attrac­tive and cost-effec­­tive and driving forward the all-important market pene­tra­tion,” says Monika Steger, Mana­ging Direc­tor of Bayern Kapi­tal. “We are plea­sed that the goal of scaling up to large-scale produc­tion in the near future has become a good deal more tangi­ble as a result of this new round of financing.”

About Bayern Kapital

Bayern Kapi­tal GmbH, based in Lands­hut, is the venture/growth capi­tal company of the Free State of Bava­ria. It accom­pa­nies inno­va­tive high-tech compa­nies in the Free State through various growth phases, from seed to later stage, with equity capi­tal in the amount of 0.25 to 25 million euros. Bayern Kapi­tal often fills gaps in the VC sector in proven consor­tium constel­la­ti­ons with private inves­tors (busi­ness angels, family offices and corpo­rate ventures).

Bayern Kapi­tal mana­ges specia­li­zed invest­ment funds with a volume of around 700 million euros. Since its foun­da­tion in 1995 on the initia­tive of the state govern­ment, the wholly owned subsi­diary of LfA Förder­bank Bayern has so far inves­ted around 400 million euros of its own equity capi­tal in around 300 start-ups and scale-ups in sectors such as life scien­ces, soft­ware & IT, mate­ri­als & new mate­ri­als, nano­tech­no­logy and envi­ron­men­tal tech­no­logy. As a result, more than 8,000 jobs have been perma­nently crea­ted in Bava­ria in sustainable compa­nies. The active port­fo­lio curr­ently compri­ses over 80 companies.
www.bayernkapital.de

About UVC

A tech team for tech teams. — We are rocket scien­tists, CS geeks, elec­tri­cal engi­neers, AI rese­ar­chers, mecha­ni­cal engi­neers, mate­ri­als scien­tists, and econo­mists. We value the entre­pre­neu­rial spirit, the pursuit of inno­va­tion and the pursuit of quality. Since 2011, we have built one of Europe’s leading B2B venture capi­tal funds inves­t­ing across Europe from our offices in Berlin and Munich. As a team, we have made over one hundred B2B invest­ments with over thirty exits, inclu­ding some of our own compa­nies. https://www.uvcpartners.com

About BMW i VENTURES

Venture capi­tal for sustainable future tech­no­lo­gies and game chan­gers in mobi­lity. — Venture capi­ta­list BMW i Ventures invests in inno­va­tive, rapidly scaling start-ups from the auto­mo­tive envi­ron­ment that are helping to shape the indi­vi­dual mobi­lity of tomor­row. The focus is on tech­no­lo­gi­cal solu­ti­ons for the trans­por­ta­tion, manu­fac­tu­ring and supply indus­tries, as well as on inter­di­sci­pli­nary, sustainable solu­ti­ons. Thanks to its inde­pen­dence, BMW i Ventures makes invest­ment decis­i­ons quickly and in a manner appro­priate to the indus­try. This auto­nomy makes it possi­ble to match the speed and quality of the best venture capi­ta­lists and attract top invest­ment part­ners. The proxi­mity to the BMW Group in turn streng­thens the tech exper­tise of BMW i Ventures. https://www.bmwgroup.com/de/innovation/unternehmen/venturing_into_new_tech.html