DG Matrix raises $60M to modernize data center power

DG Matrix, a developer of solid-state transformers, has raised $60 million in a Series A funding round. Engine Ventures, a venture capital firm, led the investment. Other participating investors included ABB, Cerberus Ventures, Chevron Technology Ventures, Clean Energy Ventures, Fine Structure Ventures, Helios Climate Ventures, MCJ, and Piedmont Capital. The company also recently announced a deal to supply its Interport device to Exowatt, a startup building solar-plus-storage containers. Currently, data centers represent about 90% of DG Matrix’s pipeline.

The company’s core technology, the Interport device, is a solid-state transformer—a modern, compact alternative to traditional, bulky transformers. Subhashish Bhattacharya, co-founder and CTO of DG Matrix, explained that the Interport device acts as a router for power. According to Bhattacharya, a single Interport device can handle up to 2.4 megawatts of connections. For example, the device can integrate 600 kilowatts from solar panels and 600 kilowatts from grid-scale batteries to power 12 racks that draw 100 kilowatts each.

Because the Interport can combine electricity from multiple sources, DG Matrix says it can eliminate uninterruptible power supplies (UPS)—the legacy backup equipment traditionally required to keep data centers running—along with the hardware needed to support them. Haroon Inam, co-founder and CEO of DG Matrix, stated that two 4-by-30-foot skids laden with power conversion equipment can be replaced by a single four-by-four-foot Interport device.

By reducing the number of components, the system improves overall efficiency. Inam compared the performance of the technologies:

• Legacy power conversion devices chained together achieve about 82% to 90% efficiency.
• The Interport device operates at 95% to 98% efficiency.

Inam added that reliability should also improve because the system uses fewer parts: “When you are using only 10%, 15% of the components that legacy is using, you’re going to be far more reliable.”

DG Matrix is rolling out initial units to customers in June. The company is also eyeing expansion into remote micro-grids, aiming to provide a cost-effective alternative to expensive transmission infrastructure. Inam noted that nobody is going to build a $100 million transmission line to a village, but communities can spend a fraction of that money to help eliminate energy poverty.

Why it matters

DG Matrix is addressing the power density and efficiency challenges in data centers by replacing bulky, legacy power conversion equipment with its solid-state Interport device.