Novac Supercap

Novac Supercap focuses on a B2B activity offering mouldable all-solid-state supercapacitors to its customers. A supercapacitor is an energy storage device that, compared to batteries, stores less energy but can be charged and discharged much more quickly. So it is more suitable than a battery to satisfy a rapid energy request, for this reason the two are not alternative but complementary. Unfortunately, at the moment, the supercapacitors integration into vehicles brings different problems, all caused by the presence of liquid inside them. Novac Supercap solves these problems developing a new supercapacitors generation, completely all-solid-state, using innovative materials and procedures. Furthermore, this supercapacitor is completely mouldable. Thanks to this property it is possible to shape it onto any surface or into any volume for each different case reducing the encumbrance and easing the vehicle design. The idea of developing an all-solid-state supercapacitor was born in September 2018. Since then, through the research activity carried out in the Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia and the Università di Parma a TRL4 has been reached. Furthermore, two working prototypes have been produced, which confirm the physical principle on which the innovation is based. The validity of the idea has been confirmed by the research group of Professor Riccò of the Università di Parma, expert in carbon nanostructures for energy storage. The market validation has been investigated through discussions with two companies based in the Motor Valley, the first belonging to the powertrains sector, the second manufacturing supercars. Both the companies have confirmed the importance of safety for energy storage systems and the need to reduce the spaces needed by them. The supercapacitors global market share has a rapid growth and worths around 850 million euros, with a CAGR of 18% in the next five years. The market sectors Novac Supercap focuses on are automotive, aerospace, e-bikes and electric boats, which have a strong growth due to the reduction of fossil fuels trend. The focus is on the high quality band, where the research for performance justifies great components costs. Regarding the the first two years since the debut on the market, Novac Supercap aims to get as customers 5 e-bikes and one supercars producers. To do so, Novac Supercap will exploit its geographic position, that being in the italian Motor Valley has 18 e-bike and 7 supercars producers in the range of 500 km. The competitive advantage with respect to competitors is due to the technology, in fact Novac Supercap is the only supercapacitors producer to develop a completely solid and mouldable product, while the alternatives on the market contain a liquid electrolyte. This advantage allows to get performances in terms of safety and space saving that no other competitor can reach. The team is composed by four students of the Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia: ● Matteo Bertocchi, CEO: Vehicle Engineering student ● Loris Bruzzi, COO: Electronics Engineering student ● Alessandro Fabbri, CIO: Vehicle Engineer ● Aldo Girimonte, CTO: Materials Engineer Furthermore the team is collaborating with Giulia Allegranza, an innovation manager with the role of senior strategic advisor. The activity of Novac Supercap consists of the sale of supercapacitors produced inside a dedicated plant. The process starts from a technical discussion with the customer, aimed to define the properties and the shape of the supercapacitors which, being mouldable, is designed following each different request. After the parameters have been defined an engineering phase starts inside Novac Supercap, which is followed by the production of the supercapacitor. The protection of the intellectual property, so the value of the company, is done by depositing patents, These can regard the supercapacitor technology, the materials they are made of and the production procedures. The first year is focused on research and development with the aim to reach performances that allow the supercapacitor to be competitive in the market. For this phase 300.000 euros are necessary. The second year the production for the debut on the market starts, with the goal to equip 400 e-bikes. The third year the goal is to equip 500 e-bike, 8 supercars and 3 boats. The economic need in this phase is 1.4 million euros, for the purchase of machineries and the management of the company.