For Powercast and Powermat, it was partnership built out of propinquity. That’s not easy for two small companies located many time zones apart: Powermat is based in Israel, and Powercast is based in Pittsburgh.
But one year ago, as fate and business savvy would have it, both companies were exhibiting in separate booths at Sensors Converge 2022 in San Jose when two Powercast customers said they needed a high power wireless connection for applications. Powercast was best at low-power over longer wireless distances, but not high power.
However, with Powermat at a nearby booth, a partnership was conceived when a rep for the US-based company walked a few feet away to ask if the Israel company could help. The rest is history, as they say, with a partnership drawn up over the past year that gives the Israeli concern access to manufacturing provided by Powercast. Between the two companies, there are nearly 40 patents that can be shared.
Now, the two companies can boast technology for customers needing both low or high power (single milliwatts up to 600 watts) over very short or longer wireless distances (eight inches to 120 feet).
“It’s a partnership about invention and innovation,” said Ygal Sameach, vice president of business development for Powermat, in an interview at Sensors Converge 2023, behind held in a new nearby location, Santa Clara, California.
Powermat only employs nine engineers, while Powercast has 25. Both are profitable and their partnership is not about a business merger. Without disclosing many details, Charles Green, CTO and COO for Powercast, called it a “very robust partnership.”
“In today’s economy, partnerships are the way to go,” Sameach said. “Companies cannot operate by themselves…This partnership is about making it easy for customers.”
The two companies only announced their partnership formally in mid-June. They still are operating separate booths at Sensors Converge 2023, but not too far apart: Powercast is in booth 840 and Powermat is in booth 805.
In previous comments to Fierce Electronics, Greene said, “One universal transmitter with both Powermat’s SmartInductive and Powercast’s RF technology built in could charge high-power enabled devices like phones by placing them on the transmitter, while also charging low-power enabled devices over distance, such as wearables placed near the transmitter and sensors installed up to 120 feet away," Greene stated.
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