Amazon-backed climate-energy tech startup Resilient Power lands $5 million to develop fast-charging technology for electric vehicles

Thanks to Tesla, the demand for electric vehicles (EVs) has increased in recent years as more consumers move away from cars and trucks with internal combustion engines (ICEs) to EVs. The soaring demand for EVs has also led to more pressure on the electric power infrastructure and further accelerated the need for fast EV charging stations.

To address these problems, an Austin-based climate tech startup Resilient Power is developing electric vehicle charging technology that has a smaller footprint and is quicker to install than comparable systems. Resilient Power is the first-to-market provider of solid-state transformer-based electric vehicle (EV) fast charging technology.

Its solid-state transformer, which combines a traditional step-down transformer, charger, power management, and bi-directional inverter in a single low-cost, flexible high efficiency power router. When installed as an EV fast charger, Resilient Power’s technology enables low-cost multi-megawatt medium voltage fast charging at one-tenth the installation time while simultaneously handling solar + storage, vehicle to grid (V2G), and microgrid capability in the same unit.

To further scale its EV fast charging technology and power grid resiliency, Resilient Power announced yesterday it has closed a $5 million seed round led by Energy Transition Ventures, with investment from Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund and GS Futures, the corporate venture capital arm of GS Group from Korea. The announcement came after its previous $3 million in contracts and grants from the U.S. Department of Energy, Savannah River National Laboratory, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

Founded in 2015, Resilient Power is a developer and manufacturer of innovative energy solutions that rewrite the electric grid. Its line of ultra-compact EV charging depots connects directly to the existing distribution grid allowing clients to build EV fleet and public charging stations in days rather than months while minimizing costly and disruptive site construction. When added to the electric power grid, Resilient’s line of high-voltage power electronics improves grid efficiency and reliability.

“EV fast-charging just happens to be a great first product for this technology, in a market that is growing fast and needs the size, cost, and power advantages it brings. But the real promise is using that same technology not just to charge a battery, but to natively enable charging + storage, microgrids, resiliency, and vehicle-to-grid with the same product,” says Neal Dikeman, Partner and Co-founder of Energy Transition Ventures. “Our grid is more than 100 years old; we’re going to rewrite it. We are excited to work with The Amazon Climate Pledge Fund and the Resilient Power team as they work towards revolutionizing the grid.”

Resilient Power currently has four US patents granted and three more pending for its solid-state transformer technology. The funding sets the stage for an EV charging pilot program with large fleet owners and an expansion of sales and marketing to commercialize the company’s next-generation energy routing platform.

“The future of clean energy brings a massive shift in the way we distribute and store power. As we speak, our electrical grid is undergoing a massive transformation. As transportation transitions to electric, we must consider how to deploy charging stations at mass scale without jeopardizing the grid,” states Tom Keister, Chief Executive Officer of Resilient Power. “Our partnership with The Amazon Climate Pledge Fund will allow us to build the infrastructure our customers need to support and accelerate EV adoption, and then later expand our technology to other renewables, storage, and microgrid markets.”