EcoMotors International, a Troy, Michigan-based company that is developing and commercializing a new engine technology, announced on Monday that if has secured Series B funding from Khosla Ventures and Bill Gates.
The company stated that this funding will be sufficient for it to complete engineering and testing of its OPOC engine. The company claims that its technology, which uses an architecture of opposed pistons and opposed cylinders, provides significant benefits compared to conventional engines, including lower cost, lighter weight, and higher efficiency. Professor Peter Hofbauer (EcoMotors Chairman and CTO) provides a brief overview of OPOC in the following video:
“opoc is precisely the kind of game-changing innovation that we at Khosla Ventures are passionate about,” said Khosla. “The only truly disruptive technologies are those that can provide not only payback in months but also economic and carbon benefits to large segments of the world’s population without the need for subsidies or massive infrastructure investments. Among next-generation propulsion systems, the opoc engine is broadly applicable and can provide lower carbon emissions than almost any other technology.”
“The opoc engine can be an important step in providing affordable, low-emission transportation for the developing world,” said Gates. “EcoMotors has developed a promising technology that could help reduce levels of greenhouse gas emissions in a low-cost, globally relevant way.”