Belgium-based Magnax raises €20M to develop powerful new motors for electric vehicles

Belgium-based Magnax, a company that develops and manufactures electric motors based on axial flux technology, announced on Tuesday that it has raised €20M in a fresh round of funding. The company has now raised a  total of €36M to date.

Magnax, whose aim is to accelerate the innovation of EV powertrains and aerospace propulsion systems, says it will use the funds to accelerate its product development, grow the engineering team, and expand support for customers and partners.

Prior to this, Magnax raised €16M in its Series A round in December 2020, led by Hirschvogel Ventures. Other investors included Torus VC, Vlerick Group, and several business angels such as the well-known professional footballer Dries Mertens.

Investors in this round

The current round was led by BIG Capital, with participation from SFPIM.

BIG Capital is the venture arm of Bitexco, a multidisciplinary group in healthcare, energy, telecom, space, and more, with a presence in Southeast Asia, Europe, and North America. Bitexco’s Chairman, Vu Quang Hoi, is a Vietnamese business mogul and successful visionary.

The Federal Holding and Investment Company (Société Fédérale de Participations et d’Investissement (SFPI) in French or Federale Participatie- en Investeringsmaatschappij (FPIM) in Dutch) is the Belgian Sovereign Wealth Fund. In order to anchor strategic assets in both emerging and established businesses or ecosystems, SFPI-FPIM claims to play a significant role in ensuring the long-term stability of the Belgian economy. 

It invests in both historical sectors, such as life sciences & healthcare, finance and aeronautics, as well as in new sectors, such as energy & utilities, transport & mobility and impact investing, and has about $8.9B in assets under management for the Federal State.

A new generation of e-motors

Founded in 2015 by Peter Leijnen, Daan Moreels, and Kester Goh, Magnax is developing a new generation of electric motors that deliver three to four times higher power density than the electric motors that power today’s electric vehicles (e.g. Tesla Model 3 motors).

In addition to having a high power density, the patented motor technology also has a greater motor efficiency, which increases vehicle range (up to 20 per cent more), and uses less materials to produce a given power rating. Magnax also believes that the motor technology will speed up the decrease of greenhouse gas emissions and help achieve climate goals quickly, as well as provide an affordable and small option for electric cars.

E-motor technology is developing quickly in the EV sector. OEMs recognise axial flux as the superior electric motor architecture (e.g. Mercedes acquisition of YASA Motors). The single-stator, dual-rotor axial flux motor from Magnax is patented and offers more effective and efficient motor architecture than currently available.

Magnax made the decision to valorise and commercialise its technology via two independent spin-off firms: Traxial, directed by Marc Beulque and focused on ground e-mobility, and Axyal, focused on aerospace propulsion systems. Both companies had outstanding test results.