Willo Raises €2.9M Pre-Seed to Scale Alignment-Free Wireless Power

Helsinki-based deep-tech startup emerges from Aalto University stealth mode with Best of CES award and backing from byFounders

Finnish deep-tech company Willo Technologies has raised €2.9 million in pre-seed funding to accelerate development of its breakthrough alignment-free wireless power system. The round positions the Aalto University spinout to address what CEO Harri Santamala calls “one of the last unsolved infrastructure layers in autonomy.”

Solving the Wireless Power Alignment Challenge

While most wireless charging systems require precise positioning or directionality, Willo’s technology keeps devices powered wirelessly even as they move and rotate. This capability addresses a fundamental constraint in robotics, industrial automation, and spatial computing: devices remain tethered to cables or require manual charging.

The company unveiled its system publicly at CES 2026, where it won CNET Group’s Best of CES™ 2026 Awards, validating the technical breakthrough following its emergence from stealth.

Strong Investor Backing

The funding round was led by byFounders, the investor behind companies like Lovable, with participation from Interface Capital, Unruly Capital, and Wave Ventures. The round also attracted prominent angel investors, including:

Andreas Klinger (Co-initiator of EU Inc & former CTO of Product Hunt)
Niccolò Perra (Co-founder & CTO of Pleo)
Vincent Ho-Tin-Hoe (CPO at Wolt & scout for NEA)
Urho Konttori (Co-founder & CEO of Varjo)
Sune Alstrup (Founder of The Eye Tribe, acquired by Meta)

“Willo is creating a new way to transfer power over the last meter, which removes one of the major constraints for all modern infrastructure,” said Magnus Hambleton, Partner at byFounders. “They are pairing deep technical work with universally applicable hardware execution that very few teams in Europe can pull off.”

Experienced Team Combining Research and Hardware Execution

Willo was co-founded by CEO Harri Santamala, CTO Dr Nam Ha-Van, and President Marko Voutilainen. Santamala previously co-founded and led Sensible4, a deep-tech company that scaled to over 100 employees. Dr Nam Ha-Van brings more than a decade of wireless power research from Aalto University, while Voutilainen has held roles including Head of Startups at Slush.

The company’s engineering team includes senior hardware leaders from Microsoft, Nokia, and Oura. Notable team members include Jonne Harju, former Microsoft Hardware Design Director, and Petteri Kotaniemi, former Oura supply chain lead. This combination of academic research expertise and proven hardware execution capabilities positions Willo to scale from prototype to production.

Supporting the core team are postdoctoral researchers who have relocated from Japan and the United States to Finland, specifically to advance the technology from the first prototype to scalable manufacturing.

What’s Next

“This funding round lets us turn a breakthrough demonstration into a real engineering phase,” said Santamala.

The immediate focus is on building the technical foundation and early reference systems that partners can evaluate and integrate into their products.

Target applications span robotics, industrial systems, and spatial computing—sectors where eliminating charging constraints could unlock new operational capabilities and business models.

Headquartered in Finland, Willo operates across Europe, the United States, and Japan, reflecting both its global ambitions and the international composition of its research and development team.

Willo Raises €2.9M Pre-Seed to Scale Alignment-Free Wireless Power

Helsinki-based deep-tech startup emerges from Aalto University stealth mode with Best of CES award and backing from byFounders

Solving the Wireless Power Alignment Challenge

Strong Investor Backing

Experienced Team Combining Research and Hardware Execution

What’s Next

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