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By Bobby Magill
Fort Collins-based VanDyne SuperTurbo™ has raised $8 million in venture capital to bolster its quest to develop new technology that will make internal combustion engines more efficient and compact.
The money, a round of financing from Northwater Capital's Intellectual Property Fund, will be used to grow the company and hire new employees, said VanDyne SuperTurbo™ spokesman Tom Waldron.
"Thanks to Northwater, we are going to be able to take the SuperTurbo™ from a prototype to a product in the next two years," company founder Ed VanDyne said in a statement. "This round of funding will allow the company to put the SuperTurbo™ through the rigorous durability testing required by the automotive industry."
The SuperTurbo™ allows for one device to supercharge, turbocharge and turbo-compound the engine, Waldron said, "a technique where you mechanically transfer the energy in the exhaust flow back into the powertrain."
The SuperTurbo™ is expected to provide up to 6 percent efficiency gains in trucks, according to the company.
The $8 million will provide the funding for 500 hours of testing on SuperTurbo™ engines of different sizes, Waldron said.
"The ultimate goal is for the company to be funded through customers," he said. "To get to that point, you have to prove your system is durable enough for our customer base."
Northwater Capital CEO David Patterson called the SuperTurbo™ "breakthrough" technology that will allow for the size of engines to decrease while improving efficiency.
VanDyne SuperTurbo™ employs 13 people, but Waldron said he did not know how many more employees the company plans to hire.
The company tests its engines at the Colorado State University Engines and Energy Conversion Laboratory and operates a joint research program with CSU, Waldron said.
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