Tech firm's ambitious plan

Chief executive Greg Cross said Samsung smartphones enabled with the PowerbyProxi's technology should hit the market within the next 12 to 18 months. Photo / Dean Purcell

PowerbyProxi seeks up to $40m to expand, possibly on NZX and preferably from Kiwis.

Wireless charging technology developer PowerbyProxi wants to have a $30 million to $40 million capital raising this year, possibly through an NZX listing, which will fund growth including a dramatic increase in the size of its engineering team.

The Auckland-based company - whose systems are used for a range of applications, including Samsung smartphones - has been talking to investment bankers and institutional investors to gauge market interest in a possible float.

Chief executive Greg Cross said the only way to locally raise the kind of cash PowerbyProxi required was through a stock exchange listing.

He said the funding could also come from Asian venture capitalists, but he would prefer PowerbyProxi to have as many Kiwi shareholders as possible.

The capital raising would help the company take on 90 new engineers over the next year, including 30 in New Zealand. The rest will be employed in Taiwan - where the company will establish a new product design centre - and Austin, Texas, Cross said.

The company - which raised around $10 million from investors including South Korea's Samsung and New York-listed TE Connectivity last year - has developed a charging pad for smartphones, charging bowl for wearable technology such as smart watches and wireless rechargeable AA batteries. Users simply place their device on the pad and electricity is transmitted through a process called magnetic induction.

Wireless charging technology for consumer devices should hit the market in the next 12 to 18 months, said Cross.

The wireless charging market for smartphones and tablets alone was expected to be worth US$15 billion by 2020, he said.

One of the firm's latest innovations is technology that can turn a desktop into a charging pad. Cross said PowerbyProxi was already working with large furniture makers to commercialise that system.

PowerbyProxi, which was spun out of the University of Auckland about six years ago, had already earned revenue from the industrial sector, said Cross, who declined to disclose financial figures.

Shareholders also include Cross, co-founder Fady Mishriki and business incubator The Icehouse.

On the charge
The company has developed a charging pad for smartphones, charging bowl for wearable technology such as smart watches and wireless rechargeable AA batteries. A device is put on the pad and electricity is transmitted through magnetic induction.