2 min Devices

AWS and Samsung put millions into Wiliot chip that works without battery

AWS and Samsung put millions into Wiliot chip that works without battery

Mobile networks, televisions and other electronic devices emit so-called ambient energy. That’s in the form of radio waves passing through the atmosphere. Wiliot Inc., a startup led by former Intel employees, is working on a chip that uses this energy to work without the need for a battery or power cable.

Today Wiliot announced that it has raised 30 million dollars from investors in order to pay for this work. Amazon Web Services, Samsung Electronics and Avery Dennison – one of the largest manufacturers of RFID tags – have made substantial investments. This investment round brings the company’s value to 120 million dollars. Earlier investments in Wiliot came from Qualcomm, Norwest Venture Partners and Merk Groups M Ventures fund.

Versatile chip

Wiliot’s first product is a postage stamp sized chip based on an ARM architecture. The chip can be attached to an object, by connecting it to it or by using a pin. The chip then measures temperature, pressure, weight and location. A Bluetooth antenna then transmits those measurements to the nearest connected device, which then sends signals to the cloud.

The chip relies entirely on ambient energy for its measurements and therefore does not need a battery to operate. In the end, this can have broad applications. For example, a pharmacist could place the Wiliot chip on a sensitive package to follow it, without having to worry about the battery.

Wiliot sees broad applications for the technology, also in the consumer industry. A fashion brand could, for example, integrate a chip in the clothing or in the brands of clothes, and then send washing machine instructions to a smartphone. We believe that disposable electronics, which work without batteries and with cheap systems, are the foundation of future IoT systems, according to CEO Tal Tal Talmir of Wiliot in a statement. Without batteries or expensive components, tags have unlimited energy and lifespan, so they can be integrated into products that were not previously connected to the Internet or Things.

The thirty million dollars that have now been raised will be used to produce the chips on a large scale.

This news article was automatically translated from Dutch to give Techzine.eu a head start. All news articles after September 1, 2019 are written in native English and NOT translated. All our background stories are written in native English as well. For more information read our launch article.