Ambient Photonics builds low-light solar energy harvesting technology designed to replace disposable batteries in connected devices such as remote controls, keyboards, mice, electronic shelf labels, and sensors. Its low-light solar cells deliver high power density at mass-market price points and are integrated with global electronics manufacturers. The company was founded in 2019 and is based in Scotts Valley, California, where it recently opened a flagship manufacturing facility. Ambient plans to use new funding to expand manufacturing capabilities and drive mass-market adoption of its technology. Its technology originated at the Warner Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry and initial funding was provided by Cthulhu Ventures LLC. Ambient positions its solution as a way to reduce e-waste and eliminate battery replacements across consumer, retail, and industrial IoT applications. Ambient Photonics, founded in 2019 in California, develops low-light solar PV cells that harvest energy across the full light spectrum for connected devices. Its technology reportedly generates more than three times the power of conventional solutions from ambient light and can reduce the carbon footprint of battery-powered devices by up to 80 percent. The company positions its cells as an alternative to disposable and rechargeable batteries, aiming to eliminate associated landfill waste. Ambient works with global smart home and IoT device manufacturers to embed its cells for improved design possibilities, performance, and sustainability. The company is planning to open what it describes as the world’s largest low-light solar cell production facility in the U.S. to scale low-cost, high-power cells to the mass IoT market. Recent financing activity — equity and equipment debt — is being used to support that U.S. manufacturing buildout. Ambient Photonics develops low-light energy-harvesting photovoltaic (PV) cells that generate as much as three times more power than conventional technology by harvesting across the entire light spectrum, including artificial and natural light. The company works with global smart-home and IoT manufacturers, including Universal Electronics Inc., to embed its cells and reduce or eliminate disposable batteries, cutting landfill waste and device carbon footprints by up to 80%. Ambient plans to build the world’s largest U.S.-based low-light solar cell production facility in Mill Valley, California, featuring a fully automated production line with capacity for tens of millions of units per year to enable mass-market adoption. The company was founded in 2019 and its technology was originally developed at the Warner Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry; initial funding since inception came from Cthulhu Ventures LLC. Ambient is pursuing a Part II application for a $162 million DOE Title XVII loan guarantee to support scaling; the facilities are projected to generate hundreds of local U.S. jobs and reduce Scope 3 emissions. Its technology targets batteryless or lower-battery-mass IoT devices, enabling new product form factors with operational and sustainability benefits.

Total raised

$79M

Funding rounds

3

Latest round

Series A

Latest activity

Sep 2023