Arcturus Raises $8 Million to Develop Nano-Infused Conductors

Arcturus raised $8 million in a seed round led by Initialized Capital with participation from Toyota Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Discovery, 1517, and Wireframe Ventures, TechCrunch reported. The company infuses carbon nanomaterials into copper and aluminum using lasers to reduce energy lost to heat in electrical conductors.

Founder and CEO Amir Mashal said replacing traditional metal with the material would allow the same size power lines to carry more electricity.

He stated that the approach could cut losses on the electrical grid in half, unlocking around 3 percent more electricity on average and up to 10 percent more during peak congestion. Mashal noted that 3 percent equals roughly a year of U.S. demand growth.

Mashal explained that copper loses conductivity as it heats up. The company has produced several centimeters of wire as a proof of concept while operating from a garage in Malibu, California. With the new funding, Arcturus plans to scale output to tens of meters of nano-infused wire for testing in electric motor windings and power distribution busbars.

The materials are designed as a drop-in replacement for existing copper and aluminum applications, requiring no system redesign or new training for handling or crimping. TechCrunch reported that Arcturus is initially targeting drones, robotics, and data centers before broader grid use.

Mashal said the same bottlenecks appear across those sectors, where reduced heat loss could extend drone flight time or lower data center cooling needs.