Arizona Tribune - Conifer Secures $20M in Seed Funding to Transform Electric Powertrains With Rare-Earth Free Design and Software-driven Manufacturing

SAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESS Newswire / April 14, 2025 / Conifer, a trailblazing electric powertrain company, has raised $20 million in seed funding to commercialize its magnet-agnostic electric motor and powertrain technology, including its proprietary "No-Tool" software-driven manufacturing approach. Founded by repeat entrepreneurs and ex-Apple Special Projects Group and Lucid engineers, the company has spent the last two years developing and validating its breakthrough with customers.

Conifer has invented a compact axial flux motor with proprietary stator technology that simultaneously achieves high efficiency and power density comparable to rare-earth-based magnet-based solutions using ubiquitously available Ferrite magnets. This drastically reduces cost and dependence on foreign supply chains. Furthermore, Conifer's motors can double the power density using Neodymium-based magnets if an application calls for it. The resulting solution sees a 95% reduction in stator core and eliminates scrap steel.

The funding will be used to deliver production units of the company's first product, a geared in-wheel powertrain for on-road and off-road small mobility customers, including two-wheelers, small four-wheelers, lawnmowers, and tractors, and expand their product lines for stationary applications. Deep tech VCs have invested in this round, including True Ventures, MFV Partners, MaC Ventures, Voyager, Z21 Ventures, Silicon Valley Bank, and Higher Life Ventures, with Rohit Sharma from True Ventures joining the board.

Rethinking Powertrains From the Ground Up

Powertrains, which comprise motors, inverters, gearboxes, and control software, are fundamental to electric and hybrid mobility, industrial automation, robotics, and drones. They often account for up to 30 percent of total system costs.

"Our mission is to make electrification and automation both exciting and practical at scale," said Ankit Somani, co-founder of Conifer. "It's difficult for customers to get their ideal powertrain, which simultaneously solves for longer range, meets specifications in the smallest volume possible, and is cost-effective. They also don't want to be stuck managing multiple vendors and an unreliable supply chain."

Current powertrain technologies rely too heavily on rare-earth elements, a hot spot for trade wars and tariffs, and a tool-heavy manufacturing process where design changes cause months of delay and significant costs.

"We took inspiration from Battery cell design and manufacturing," added Yateendra Deshpande, co-founder of Conifer. "Given our modular motor design, for the first time, motors can be manufactured at scale without expensive tooling using a fully parameterized software-driven process. Our process allows a single production line to create motors of various sizes under 25hp while reducing manufacturing costs for the key winding step by over 90 percent. Integrating with our modular inverter, gearbox, and flexible software layers helps us deliver customer requirements cost-effectively and rapidly."

"Getting the world to electrify and move beyond combustion engines requires fundamental and broad-based innovation in powertrains," said Rohit Sharma, partner at True Ventures. "Ankit and Yateendra are tackling this challenge by focusing on low-cost materials, new design, manufacturing, and integrated software to create high torque, low-cost powertrains for both two-wheelers and commercial vehicles. And they've assembled a strong, experience-aligned team of experts to do so."

Impact on Small Mobility and Stationary Applications

Over 1 billion gas-powered engines currently power Small Mobility applications globally, including two-wheelers, lawnmowers, tractors, and power tools. Businesses looking to create electric versions are often stuck with inefficient and failure-prone hub motors.

Conifer's first commercial product addresses this exact problem-a drop-in, geared In-wheel powertrain that integrates across wheel sizes, providing superior efficiency and higher continuous power density. Customers testing Conifer's solutions in harsh real-world conditions have valued increased range, reduced part costs, and fully localized supply chains. The company plans to begin shipping production units to these customers and will open its waitlist broadly this year.

Conifer's technology is also attracting significant interest in the stationary sector beyond mobility, particularly for HVAC, industrial automation, and pumping applications, where electric motors convert an estimated 45% of the world's electricity. The company's IE5-efficient motors are half the length and weight of induction machines while being a drop-in for the same NEMA/IEC frame size. In response to this interest, Conifer is launching a pilot program for partners in the stationary application space.

For more information, visit https://www.conifer.io or Press Contact: Joel Richman, Escalate PR: [email protected] or [email protected]

About Conifer

Conifer is an electric powertrain technology company amplifying electrification across mobility, industrial, and stationary applications and addressing the increasingly stringent needs of a $200B powertrain market. Through a vertically integrated approach and pioneering advancements in motor and powertrain design and manufacturing, Conifer is accelerating the transition to a more sustainable, energy-efficient future.

Contact:

Escalate PR for Conifer
[email protected]

SOURCE: Conifer

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

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