back to article Startup raises $30 million for wireless power delivery system

A wireless power startup has secured $30 million in funding to help develop its technology, with which it aims to "do for power what Wi-Fi has done for data." Reach Power claims its system is capable of wirelessly delivering hundreds of watts of energy over distances of tens of meters using radio waves, claiming it can power …

  1. Neil Barnes Silver badge

    Efficiency is king

    Reach claims that its system is capable of delivering up to 50W to devices at distances of about 30 feet (9.1 meters), although the power delivered will depend on the size of the Reach router, the size of the target device, and the distance between them.

    But at what efficiency? Even with beam-forming, what happens to the distance squared laws? Can we really justify millions or billions of devices that don't come close to the efficiency of a bit of copper wire?

    1. b0llchit Silver badge
      Happy

      Re: Efficiency is king

      ...what happens to the distance squared laws?

      Scientists decided that the squared laws were unworkable and abandoned them in 2022.

      paraphrasing Hubert J. Farnsworth

      1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

        Re: Efficiency is king

        You can still efficiently transfer power with an inverse square law - that's why you can efficiently bisect Bonds with a laser some distance away

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Efficiency is king

          .. but only once.

          :)

          1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

            Re: Efficiency is king

            It depends how many come after 007, is it limited to 999 or MAX_INT ?

        2. MyffyW Silver badge

          Re: Efficiency is king

          Do you expect me to talk?

          No, Mr Bond, I expect you to fry

    2. John Robson Silver badge

      Re: Efficiency is king

      "Even with beam-forming, what happens to the distance squared laws?"

      Well... have you run the distance squared for different beam forms?

      If you can beam form really well (i.e. a laser) then the area over which power is delivered doesn't substantially grow with any reasonable distance (we're talking tens of metres, not thousands).

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Efficiency is king

        Just use a square beam?

        :)

      2. pmugabi

        Re: Efficiency is king

        Right an you don't want to be in the same room with a laser that can charge a phone at a measly 5W. It will damage your retina at a distance of hundreds of metres.

        1. John Robson Silver badge

          Re: Efficiency is king

          Oh no, you've seen the flaw that they've missed.

          Now you say it it's so obvious...

          There is a pretty good chance that they are aware that people exist.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Pigs might fly.......

    If they can induce 50 watts of power at 30 feet, using 5.8Ghz frequencies, I would not want to be in the same room. In fact, I would not want to be in the same building, maybe not even the same street.

    100+ years ago Tesla was trying this, and realised the laws of physics meant that it could just never happen in the real world.

    1. Totally not a Cylon

      Re: Pigs might fly.......

      Radiated power limits put a stop to it....

      Even in the US max Radiated power is 4W

      and UK is 1W unless licensed when it becomes 4W

      Both can be higher for point to point, but that is between fixed antenna which are above people........

      1. an.other_tech

        Re: Pigs might fly.......

        And of course we now have to measure how much RF energy our transmitters are putting out, so as not to endanger any human who might happen to be near an antenna when it's transmitting.

        50w on 5.8Ghz, yeah, ok, and why did we enclose 2.4Ghz magnetrons again when we could have simply zapped our dinner in another room ?

        Oh yes, death.

    2. jollyboyspecial Silver badge

      Re: Pigs might fly.......

      That's a nice power delivery system you have there. Would be a shame if it didn't get regulatory approval and you lost all your investors money.

      1. DJO Silver badge

        Re: Pigs might fly.......

        Of course the investors will lose money. Long distance (i.e. over a meter or so) transmission of useful energy is a non-starter (excluding directed energy weapons beams).

        I'm sure the team know this but also know it's exactly the sort of thing investors who think they are too clever to bother with due diligence would back.

        1. jollyboyspecial Silver badge

          Re: Pigs might fly.......

          I'm sure transmitting power over a metre is a goer. But whether that can be done safely is another question altogether...

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Pigs might fly.......

            It doesn't just blast out power, it monitors the field between it and the receiver. Any changes in the environment which reduce the coupling efficiency, such as meatbags, and it stops transmitting

          2. Phil O'Sophical Silver badge

            Re: Pigs might fly.......

            "Don't step in front of the anten...

            Ah well, never mind. That'll smart for a while"

        2. MyffyW Silver badge

          Re: Pigs might fly.......

          @Elizabeth_Holmes one for you, hun?

    3. hoofie

      Re: Pigs might fly.......

      There was Russian Scientist who managed to get his into a high energy proton beam - and survived.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatoli_Bugorski

  3. Disgusted Of Tunbridge Wells Silver badge

    I can't wait to charge my (hypothetical) electric car using a Pringles can antenna.

    1. TimMaher Silver badge
      Coat

      Pringles can.

      Depends on the flavour. But, anyway, you have to eat them all first.

      Mine’s the one with bacon flavoured creppies in the pocket.

  4. 0x80004005

    $30 million for a microwave oven and a tin can?

    Count me in, can't wait to get my snout in the trough!

    1. GreggS

      Re: $30 million for a microwave oven and a tin can?

      And to The Pringles post.

      Once you've popped, you can't stop.

  5. elsergiovolador Silver badge

    Fries

    Johnny: Mum! Mum! Danny got his brain fried! He walked through the power beam!

    Mum: Oh for f sake Johnny I told you to keep an eye on him! At this rate you will run out of brothers!

    Jennie: Mum it's my fault! I told him that he is a chicken if he is afraid to walk through the beam and no girl is going to like him. Now his brain is fried. *sobbing*

    Mum: Oh don't think about it sweetie. He was a piece of work anyway. I'll call your dad and we will make a new one today!

    Robbie: What, did he cross the power beam? I can do tha *zapped*

    Johnny: Oh gawd dammit. My last brother. Robbieeeee! Why did you do tha *zapped*

    (Mum rushing to help Robbie and Johnny) *zapped*

    Jennie: Oh no oh no oh no Mum mum mum why did y *zapped*

    1. b0llchit Silver badge
      Coat

      Re: Fries

      Were they French?

    2. UCAP Silver badge
      Joke

      Re: Fries

      On the upside, Dad had taken out millions of dollars of life insurance on each and every one of them, before having the power beam installed so that it points in *just* the wrong direction!

  6. Adrian 4

    > DARPA was seeking technology that could allow airborne tanker aircraft to deliver 100kW of power using laser beams to recharge drones in flight.

    To recharge drones in flight ? Their drones, or someone else's ?

    Mil would love to put 100kW or even 50W 30 ft away, but recharging isn't the reason.

  7. dermotw

    jeez...

    There are so many reasons why this won't work that I can't be ar*ed to write them down... what sort of magical thinking are they using...

    1. Ian Mason

      Re: jeez...

      The sort of magical thinking that causes money to magically disappear from VC's pockets and appear in yours.

      Frankly I think the VC's deserve this if they are incapable of finding the well publicised trail of failures in this exact field, all of whom were ... drum roll ... VC funded by exactly the kind of VCs that other VCs keep an eye on (e.g. the uBeam fiasco that left Andreessen Horowitz, Upfront Ventures, Founders Fund and Mark Cuban $26 million poorer. Don't feel bad, they could afford it).

      If you are a VC looking to invest in this area, get a feasibility report from someone who vaguely looks like an engineer before investing. I look vaguely like an engineer and for a couple of million I'll happily pocket the cash, spend ten minutes thinking, go on holiday for three months and then finally say "No. There, I've saved you tens of millions".

    2. MyffyW Silver badge

      Re: jeez...

      I wish I had sufficiently loose morals to hoover up this sort of VC cash

      On the other hand, maybe I could make consultancy rates advising fools where not to put their money...

  8. cjcox

    What's that smell?

    Smells like roast pork. - Dr. Temperance Brennan

  9. Andy 73 Silver badge

    Final throws of VC madness?

    This technology has been debunked repeatedly, and very firmly over the last decade.

    Even taking the numbers at face value, since when could you recharge a vehicle in any meaningful way with 50W - that's around half the power of my laptop charger.

    On the one hand, it's hard not to think that if people are really this stupid, they don't deserve to keep their millions. On the other hand, it's hard not to think of all the far more constructive things those millions could fund. If you're a VC and want to see something positive in this world, throwing money at ideas that don't pass the slightest bit of inspection is about as nihilistic as you can get.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    It works in theory ... but

    There is a chicken / egg problem for adoption in domestic use.

    You fit the big antennae into the walls/ceiling of your house to run various supported devices. But there are only supported devices if there is an installed base, and there is only an installed base if there are lots of supported devices. So unless an Apple or Samsung said, "this is the only charging option for our new device suck it up consumer", it's very difficult to break through.

    We had a demonstrator which could 'beam' power from rooftop solar panels to devices and battery storage throughout the house without you having to run any wiring.

    There are a bunch of niche applications where you want to have truly autonomous sensor or robots with no need to every connect to a wall socket - but not enough to justify the R&D

    Anonymous cos the firm I worked with is trying to pivot the technology.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I have high hopes that soon it will even be possible to just place my phone on a "charging plate" and not even have to plug a usb cable into it.

    1. veti Silver badge

      Put it on your Christmas list. I predict Santa will be handing out a few of those, you might as well get one.

  12. DenTheMan

    Give us the money

    Thinks of supercapictors and the EEstor obvious none saga saga.

  13. hoofie

    Yeah Right

    If Reach think the FCC is going to allow them to blast 50w out at the edge of the microwave ISM Band they are smoking the good stuff.

    They will be operating under an FCC experimental and scientific licence at the moment which basically means dummy loads and faraday cages [if they bothered to do it legally].

    This RF wireless transmission bollocks pops up every couple of years as apparently the laws of physics can be bent by good marketing videos and PR puff.

    Note the website has sweet f-al on the technology itself.

  14. david 12 Silver badge

    Devices

    50W is a 10A USB connector.

    My opinion is that this is a Blue Sky speculative investment that provides jobs for the management team, and after a while they'll move on to Flying Cars, or Deep Sea Mining, or something else, but I'd say that the interest from the military is for re-charging devices, not electric cars.

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