ONiO has raised €5 million to ramp production of ONiO.zero — the first general-purpose microcontroller that cold-starts from under 1µW and runs entirely on ambient energy. The round was led by Stockholm-based node.vc, with Helsinki’s Maki.vc as co-lead. Existing investors EIC Fund and MP Pension matched the investment and doubled down.
”ONiO represents the kind of breakthrough technology we look for at node.vc,” said Mårten Skogö, Partner at node.vc. ”Their ability to power a microcontroller entirely from ambient energy is not only technically impressive — it’s fundamentally changing how we think about sustainable IoT. The team has proven that the technology works in real-world applications, and now it’s time to scale. We’re excited to support ONiO as they bring this game-changing chip to market.”
The funding accelerates volume production of ONiO.zero — our one-of-its-kind, power-agnostic wireless microcontroller that cold-starts from less than 1µW and runs on ambient energy. Solar, RF, thermal, piezo — it harvests whatever you throw at it. Zero batteries required, though it’s happy to collaborate nicely with them when needed. In short, a game-changer as far as green IoT is concerned! Enabling highly practicable and super sustainable IoT solutions across industries and verticals. The core mission with ONiO was to stem the massive flow of millions of batteries into oceans and landfills. And we’re happy to say, ONiO.zero has lived up to that promise.
Everything lives on a single die: A RISC-V CPU, radios, power management, security, memory and much more. We’ve integrated what used to take dozens of components into one chip. It’s already been tested in solar keyboards, electronic shelf labels, air quality sensors, asset trackers, and soil sensors monitoring crops. Most run purely on harvested energy, and in some applications, we just make batteries last forever!
We’ve spent years finessing this tech. Pouring incredible amounts of expertise and tens of thousands of man-hours into making sure it’s just right – nothing more, nothing less. And now – customers have working prototypes and pilot products; The benchmarks speak for themselves — 22µW/MHz and 181 Coremark/mJ (https://www.eembc.org/ulpmark/ulp-cm/scores.php) with cold-start capability below 1µW.
Now we’re scaling production alongside the dev kits and reference designs that let engineers build the designs that make sense for their applications.
The chip is magic. The demos deliver. The benchmarks are fire. The customers are ready. All that’s left to do is to make a lot more of these super chips.
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About node.vc
Node.vc is an early-stage venture capital firm based in Stockholm, investing in groundbreaking tech startups across the Nordics and Baltics. Founded in 2023 by experienced entrepreneurs and operators, the firm manages a €80 million fund backed by over 70 prominent tech founders. With a track record of building, scaling and investing in more than 40 successful ventures, node.vc brings deep operational insight to every investment. Node’s sector agnostic investment approach focuses on various areas such as platform technologies, new experiences and smarter workplaces. (node.vc)
About Maki.vc
Maki.vc is a Helsinki-based venture capital firm investing in early-stage startups, particularly those in deep tech and brand-driven sectors. Founded in 2018, Maki.vc partners with visionary tech founders determined to rewrite the rules of their categories. They focus on companies that challenge category norms through scientific advances and distinctive branding, supporting them from inception to Series A and beyond. (Maki.vc)
