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November 25, 2022

CMU Spinout CorePower Magnetics Selected for $5M ARPA-E SCALEUP Grant For Manufacturing Line in Pittsburgh

CorePower Magnetics announced today it was selected to receive $5M in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) Seeding Critical Advances for Leading Energy Technologies (SCALEUP) program, which supports, pre-pilot, pilot, and scale up projects of potentially disruptive new technologies.

Driving magnetification forward, CorePower Magnetics will use this funding to scale its compact and efficient next generation magnetic solutions for electric vehicles (EVs), EV charging, and the grid. CorePower is commercializing magnetic components, like inductors, transformers, and electric motors with a combination of component design, advanced processing, and specialized alloys inside of its cores. Additionally, this funding enables CorePower to establish its manufacturing roots in Pittsburgh to carry on the tradition of innovation and manufacturing in metals and energy that has long defined the region.

“The potential of EVs and renewables has created unprecedented needs for more efficient and power-dense magnetics so that EVs can travel farther and charge faster, and the grid can adequately handle growth in demand,” said CorePower Magnetics’ CEO Dr. Sam Kernion. “We’re thrilled to have been selected through the extremely competitive ARPA-E SCALEUP process and look forward to increasing our manufacturing roots in the Pittsburgh region to help solve climate and domestic manufacturing supply chain issues.”

“While much progress has been made in electrification, CorePower is revolutionizing the other side of the wave - magnetification,” said CorePower’s CTO Dr. Paul Ohodnicki. “CorePower’s technology development started well over a decade ago, including critical support from ARPA-E and other DOE offices in prior programs, and we’re excited to further deliver on this investment.”

Prior support of CorePower Magnetics from ARPA-E has come from the Solar ADEPT program, which enabled prototyping and demonstration while the technology was in development at Carnegie Mellon University. CorePower also recently completed a $2.5M pre-seed round led by Volta Energy Technologies, was a recent recipient of NASA’s Hot Operating Temperature Technology (HOTTech) award, and was one of five companies selected to participate in the 10th Cohort of the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2).

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