Why we invested in Willo

Power should be invisible

The history of electronics is a story of cutting cords. We've liberated data from wires with Wi-Fi. We've untethered communications with cellular networks. But power, the most fundamental requirement for any device, has remained physical. Chargers, cables, docking stations, and alignment pads. Every robot, every warehouse drone, every piece of industrial equipment is ultimately leashed to an outlet or limited by battery life.

Wireless power transfer has been promised for over a century, ever since Nikola Tesla's experiments at Wardenclyffe Tower. Yet every commercial implementation has come with asterisks: precise alignment required, charging pads only, stationary devices only. The moment something moves or rotates, power transfer stops.

Willo has built a system that works differently. Devices can receive power wirelessly while moving, rotating 360 degrees on all 3 axes. No pads, no ports, no line-of-sight required and multiple devices can be powered simultaneously. We are proud to be partnering with them as they bring this technology to the world.

The alignment problem

Current and past wireless power systems fall into two categories, each with fundamental limitations.

Near-field inductive systems (like phone charging pads such as those using Qi aka Magsafe) use magnetic coupling between coils. They're efficient (often above 90%) but only when the transmitter and receiver are precisely aligned and in near-contact. Move a few centimeters off-center and efficiency collapses. This is why your phone has to sit in exactly the right spot in your in-car “wireless” charging dock, and why this approach cannot scale to powering moving equipment.

Far-field systems (like RF power beaming) can work over longer distances but require precise directional targeting. The transmitter must know exactly where the receiver is and aim at it. It’s basically shining a flashlight of power at the receiving device. The moment the receiving device rotates or moves unexpectedly, the beam loses its target and no power is transmitted.

Both approaches share the same fundamental constraint: they assume the receiver stays still and is properly oriented. This assumption makes sense for phones on nightstands but breaks down entirely for the applications that would benefit most from wireless power: autonomous robots, industrial equipment, spatial computing devices and your phone while you’re using it.

A new approach

The breakthrough behind Willo emerges from years of academic research at Aalto University, led by Dr. Nam Ha-Van. His work tackled the problem from first principles: rather than fighting the physics of misalignment, he developed systems that work regardless of receiver orientation.

The key insight involves creating fields of power rather than beams. Within a defined space around the transmitter, devices can draw power continuously regardless of their position or rotation. 

This isn't theoretical: at CES 2026, Willo demonstrated the technology publicly for the first time. In their demo suite, devices powered by small receiver units continued operating smoothly as they were moved, rotated, and repositioned anywhere within range of a transmitter. The lights stayed on. The power flowed. No alignment required.

Willo's founding team combines deep academic research with proven ability to ship hardware at scale. This is exactly what's needed to take a laboratory breakthrough and make it into a commercial product.

Dr. Nam Ha-Van led the foundational research at Aalto University, publishing extensively on wireless power transfer and building the scientific basis that underpins Willo's technology. Harri Santamala brings experience scaling deep-tech companies from inception to commercial deployment. Marko Voutilainen brings a deep understanding of how world class tech startups scale and think globally.

The team around them includes hardware veterans from Microsoft, Nokia, and Oura. Jonne Harju, formerly Design Director of Hardware at Microsoft, leads hardware development. Petteri Kotaniemi, who ran manufacturing and supply chains at Oura, ensures the technology can actually be produced at scale. The in-house research group includes post-doctoral scientists from universities across Europe, the United States, and Japan.

The combination of world-class research credentials and proven hardware execution is rare and essential for the challenge ahead.

Willo’s wireless future

Almost every physical system today is designed around the assumption that power comes from a cable. This constraint shapes everything from factory layouts to device designs (batteries account for the 30-50% of the weight of smartphones).

We are currently seeing a revolution in robotics. Today's automated warehouse robots must return to charging stations regularly, planning their routes around battery constraints. They lose productive time and require charging infrastructure. Wireless energy allows the entire system, and the robot to be designed fundamentally differently and in the end, much more efficiently. 

We believe the 2nd and 3rd order effects of truly wireless power will be unimaginably vast. Industrial automation, consumer hardware, spatial computing and medical devices will obviously be affected, but those are just the beginning.

We are proud and excited to be partnering with Dr. Nam, Marko, Harri and Willo. We believe they and their team will usher in a new era of how technology is built, and we look forward to supporting them on their journey.

Welcome to the portfolio, Willo. The cable-free future is long overdue.

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