Aventa receives strategic investment from Applied Ventures

USA: Aventa Technologies Inc., a provider of manufacturing equipment for emerging alternative energy markets such as high-temperature superconductors (HTS), announced that Applied Ventures LLC, the venture capital arm of Applied Materials Inc., has made a strategic investment in its series A financing.

The investment will be used to support its operation to commercialize the equipment the HTS industry needs to meet growing global demand.

HTS technology promises to significantly improve power distribution by enabling the lossless transmission of electrical power over long distances. Several applications of HTS wires are expected to move from demonstration to large-scale projects in the near future.

As the old grid infrastructures get upgraded with more advanced technologies to increase efficiency, substantial adoption of superconducting fault current limiters and HTS cables is expected. For example, China plans to spend $530 billion in this decade to build a strong and smart grid, according to the China Greentech Initiative.

Aventa Technologies offers a comprehensive set of systems for manufacturing advanced HTS wires. The company's advanced vacuum deposition tools can accelerate the adoption of HTS solutions by increasing the productivity of HTS wire manufacturing.

"Applied Materials' core expertise will greatly benefit us as we scale our technology which is key to the cost-effective, high-volume manufacture of HTS wire," said Piero Sferlazzo, president and CEO of Aventa Technologies. "This financing provides us with the capital to strengthen our product line and scale manufacturing capabilities to meet our customers' requirements."

"We are excited about Aventa's progress in developing critical manufacturing technology for this emerging alternative energy sector," said J. Christopher Moran, corporate VP and GM of Applied Ventures. "HTS technology has tremendous potential, and we are pleased that this investment will be used to make advanced grid solutions more affordable."