Working together for the future of electrification
Copenhagen / Dresden / Munich – Nordic Alpha Partners, a private equity investor specializing in industrial transformation and green technologies, has acquired a significant minority stake in Additive Drives. The investment in the mid double-digit million euro range strengthens the growth of the German manufacturer of high-performance, additively manufactured electric motors.
Existing investor AM Ventures, which has supported Additive Drives since the seed phase, is also investing fresh capital.
Additive Drives develops electric motors with a world-leading thrust-to-weight ratio, high efficiency per euro invested and without the use of rare earths. With the entry of Nordic Alpha Partners, the company is accelerating its mission to significantly reduce global energy consumption, enable new forms of electrification and equip numerous industries with the next generation of electric motors.
Additive Drives already supplies several international blue chip customers.
Technological leadership meets financial strength
Thanks to its own production technology, prototypes can be manufactured within just 21 days – development cycles and downtimes are drastically reduced. Additive Drives has been profitable since day one and is already bankable with several European financial institutions.
Most recently, the company was ranked 7th in the Süddeutsche Zeitung ranking of more than 8,000 founded companies.
Electric motors as the key to the energy transition
- Electric motors and the systems they drive account for around 53% of global electricity consumption.
- The technology from Additive Drives achieves up to 98 % efficiency in industrial applications and reduces energy losses by up to 70 %.
This means that the motors significantly exceed the current IE5 standard and effectively achieve a performance level beyond IE7. For industrial users, this means measurable energy savings, lower overall operating costs and an improved sustainability balance – especially in energy-intensive applications.
At the same time, the high thrust-to-weight ratio and compact design enable completely new applications, for example in aerospace and advanced robotics.
A strategic building block for Europe’s industrial resilience
Additive Drives’ technology hits a key point on the European electrification agenda: it is scalable and can be used immediately in high-growth but energy-intensive areas such as AI data centers, quantum computing, electromobility and robotics.
As the motors do not require rare earths, Additive Drives reduces geopolitical dependencies in the supply chain and strengthens European industrial sovereignty.
Voices on the partnership
“It is truly rare to see a founder team build something so pioneering and at the same time at have such a strong financial performance less than five years after inception. It requires them to make great decisions consistently, and that’s what they’ve done”
Nikolaj Magne Larsen, Partner at Nordic Alpha Partners.
“We wanted to work with Nordic Alpha Partners because they have a unique toolkit for industrial scaling and navigating industrial transformations. We have been cash-positive from early on and we were looking for an operational partner that could really enable us to tap into hypergrowth and expand globally even faster.”
Philipp Arnold, CFO Additive Drives
“Additive Drives is a great example of the fact that Europe is still leading the game when it comes to higly advanced industrial technologies. They are already accelerating global electrification and I’m sure we will see entirely new product categories emerge as a result.”
Laurits Bach Sørensen, Co-Founder & Senior Partner, Nordic Alpha Partners“Additive Drives is a prime example of the innovative power of the German Mittelstand. We are proud to have supported the team from day one, building a technology leader in e-mobility. By introducing our trusted co-investor Nordic Alpha Partners, we are helping accelerate the next growth phase on the path to create a European champion for a more sustainable future.”
Arno Held, Managing Partner at AM Ventures
Additive Drives is at your disposal for press inquiries.
