Maintworld Magazine 4/2023

In Short
Lithium-ion battery demand soars, projected
to reach 4.7 TWh by 2030 boosted
by a shift toward green energy and electric
mobility. Research and Markets
Finnish cleantech company
SpinDrive raises €3.8M to cut
industrial energy waste and pollution
with magnetic levitation bearings
Finnish cleantech company
SpinDrive has secured €3.8
million in Series A funding
led by Rhapsody Venture
Partners, with participation
from existing investors Innovestor and
Born2Grow. The funds will support
global expansion and the development
of new Active Magnetic Bearings.
SpinDrive aims to enhance global
industrial machinery efficiency by providing
affordable, frictionless magnetic
levitation bearings as an alternative to
traditional, high-maintenance options.
SpinDrive's technology offers smaller,
more energy-efficient bearings with
up to 20 years of maintenance-free
operation, reducing downtime and
costs. Additionally, the lubricant-free
operation helps eliminate pollution,
contributing to cutting 500Mt of CO2
annually by 2050. The company has
raised a total of €8 million to date and
has a global presence with offices in
Finland and Germany.
Meanwhile, traditional ball bearings
in industrial high-speed applications
have a 12-18 month maintenance cycle,
requiring bearing replacement. Spin-
Drive's bearings also provide condition
monitoring and predictive maintenance
of the whole machine, removing
the need to install external sensors to
monitor system health and reducing
overall equipment maintenance costs
by over 80%, the company says in a
statement.
– We have seen increasing international
demand for more energy
efficiency and cleaner solutions in
industrial production, and we are excited
to build SpinDrive to meet those
customer needs with our active magnetic
bearing systems and controllers.
With its specialization in industrial
Traditional ball
bearings in industrial
high-speed applications
have a 12-18 month
maintenance cycle.
technologies and global reach into industrial
companies, Rhapsody Venture
Partners is an ideal partner for us, and
we're thrilled to be working with them,
says Nikita Uzhegov, COO and Cofounder
of SpinDrive.
– Climate change is the biggest
challenge of our time, but we often
get stuck thinking about technologies
like carbon capture when it comes to
CO2 emissions. Industrial production
is a massive part of the world's energy
consumption and climate emissions,
so we must create energy-efficient
and clean components to turn this
tide. By improving the energy efficiency
in existing and new machinery,
we tackle the problem in a massive
area and provide a significant impact,
adds Janne Heikkinen, CEO and Cofounder
of SpinDrive.
10 maintworld 4/2023