Turin-based ORiS secures €5 million to develop wireless power transmission for space and dual-use

ORiS, a Turin-based DeepTech startup developing laser-based wireless power transmission systems for space and dual-use applications, has closed a €4.5 million pre-Seed round. The round was led by Earlybird and co-led by Pitchdrive, with participation from Galaxia, Vento and Piemonte Next Fund. The company has also secured a €500k grant through the Piedmont Region’s “Consolidamento patrimoniale e crescita delle start up innovative” programme, bringing total recent funding to €5 million.

ORiS was founded in 2024 at Politecnico di Torino by Andrea Villa (CEO), Anna Mauro (CTO), Domenico Edoardo Sfasciamuro (CCO), and Francesco Lopez (COO) while they were completing their MSc in Aerospace Engineering, with the support and technical guidance of Prof. Stefano Mauro. It was supported by the I3P Incubator of Politecnico di Torino and the ESA BIC Turin programme, and emerged from the CDP Venture Capital ecosystem with support from Galaxia.

The company is building an in-orbit energy distribution grid. Its laser-based wireless power transmission technology is designed to give satellites access to additional energy directly in orbit, addressing the growing power needs of a new generation of increasingly capable and energy-intensive satellites. For spacecraft already in orbit, this could allow operators to use their payloads more often, operate through eclipse periods, and extend mission lifetime as solar panels degrade.

While ORiS’ mid-term objective is to deliver energy between satellites in orbit, its technology is already being validated through LOONA, the company’s wireless recharging prototype platform for drones, developed within NATO DIANA’s accelerator programme. ORiS has demonstrated wireless power transfer to a hovering drone at over 100 metres, providing a near-term dual-use application and a practical testbed for its laser-based power transmission capabilities.

For lunar applications, ORiS is working on wireless power transmission to surface assets such as rovers, a use case already explored in a feasibility study for Thales Alenia Space.

The company plans to use the capital to expand its technical team, accelerate R&D on critical subsystems, relocate to new offices with laboratory and clean-room facilities, develop the flight model for a future satellite-to-satellite WPT mission, and advance LOONA towards a product dual-use system. By the end of July, ORiS expects to deliver a flight model for its first in-orbit mission with DCUBED, planned for 2027 and designed to demonstrate wireless power transmission over a 10-metre distance.