“Do you know what is the most beautiful thing I learned? That all of us on this planet want a better world. Is that the forces of good are more powerful than evil. I believe in the electric revolution”.
He has developed an intelligent brain for lithium batteries (and not only). She called it Eve-AI. You built a business and made it in America. And now she invoices, announces rounds and dreams of returning. This is the story of an Italian founderor that at the age of 21 he leaves Milan to do a master’s degree at Boston University. Expected length of stay: one year. It’s been 13, and he’s still not back.
Work for the US government first. Then for NASA. He creates a patent for the battery of an electric drone that is to explore Venus. Works. At one point he requests ownership of that patent from NASA and establishes his own company. He is Fabrizio Martini, born in 1986. In 2015 in Boston he launched Electra Vehicles, a company that combines data, machine learning, artificial intelligence and electrification. It has just closed a 21 million dollar round, led by United Ventures, a venture capital vehicle based in Milan, together with other investors. Almost all Italian.
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“We have developed software that, thanks to 360-degree data analysis, can increase the life, life and safety of lithium batteries. Now we sell them under license in the automotive field, but we could also range in other fields, such as avionics, robotics, stationary storage. We feed the neural networks data that comes from the battery, the driver and his driving style (at least 7 have been recognised, ed), the type of vehicle and the environment. The result? We can improve the performance of each individual battery by 28%, make it last even 14-15 years instead of 6-7. And predict the damage 3 months in advance.”
Martini is 36 years old and has a pedigree of those that can serve in life. Son of entrepreneurs, passionate about MotoGP and cars. He only gets around on a bicycle. Three-year degree at the Politecnico di Milano: Vehicle dynamics. At 21 he is already abroad for a doctorate in Battery and Energy storage at Northeastern University in Boston. Then the university puts him into the world of work. At 22 he develops innovative batteries for the US government: first for the Department of Energy and then for the Defense. At 23, America gives him 5 million dollars to make batteries and asks him to show his results in the desert, in Houston and Cape Canaveral. From here he arrives at NASA: “Things happen there as you see them in the movies. They ask you to fit a cylinder into a triangular shape and never want to be told it can’t be done or it’s difficult. I want to hear that you can do it, even when it’s nearly impossible. They were working on the exploration of Venus via electric drones and they asked me to find the ideal battery for that environment. For that project I developed a software. Over the years, I applied to NASA for a patent to start a business”. They answered yes, “provided you stay in the United States for 4 years”. And so “I invested all my savings, 65,000 dollars, and left. Then the State of Massachusetts gave me a $300,000 grant, Amazon Web Service gave me another $150,000. Companies had so much data and didn’t know what to do with it. We offered to look at them, analyze them and then give them a lot of useful information. We started billing right away.”
By now an American citizen, two years ago Fabrizio, who leads a team of 50 people e turnover of 10 million dollars a year, decides to open an office also in Europe. And between Paris, Munich, Frankfurt and Torino chooses the Piedmontese capital: “Because here we have found investors, the support of the Piedmont Region and an event like la Italian Tech Week”.
At the new round, announced on February 22, 2023, they have Stellantis Ventures also participated and previous investors who have reconfirmed interest, such as LIFTT and the Investors Club. BlackBerry Limited also participated in the round: “Today we expect to hire another 50 people between Turin and Boston. We want to bring our technologies to vehicles and close commercial contracts with car manufacturers.”
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Again: “I learned to ask. I didn’t expect NASA to give me back my patent, but it did. I learned that behind every problem there is always a solution. I learned that all of us on this planet want a better world. And when you unite for a good cause, the forces of good are stronger than evil. I put all of myself into this endeavor. My father asked me what I was going to do, and I told him I wanted to do my part. Climate change is upsetting us. Man is accelerating all of this exponentially. The switch to electric is mandatory, as is the switch to renewable energies. The sale of gasoline and diesel cars will be banned in California from 2035. Europe will do the same. It is important that everyone is aware of this and that they hurry to do it. All automakers are investing billions in electrification. Electric car sales double every year. Within 10-15 years we will all have an incentive to get one. Among other things, they are also more fun to drive”.
In Boston, Martini is known as “the entrepreneur on a bicycle”, even though “stand on two wheels behind a line of cars to diesel and petrol is not the most pleasant thing that exists. When I saw the great electric trend, I told myself that I wanted to do my part so that this trend didn’t take 20 years, but less. From my parents who lead a floriculture company with 100 years of history I got the passion for business risk and for human capital. All my collaborators have a small part of Electra. Which is so called not only because it refers to the concept of electric, but because it is a female name. I believe in gender equality. Until two years ago I was able to maintain in my team the same number of women and men. Today I struggle to find women specialized in STEM subjects. I believe in diversity. In Electra you will find people of all origins, of all religions, of all sexual genders. I have met people in the United States but also in Turin with the desire to improve their lives and that of others and wish for a better future for those who will come after. This made all the difference for me. I am considering returning. I was worried about the Italian ecosystem, but it’s improving month after month. It would be nice to come back in many. Electra and America have given me the opportunity to express myself, but in Italy I feel at home. However, two things should be done: double, if not triple, the tech investments expected in the next few years and push younger people to prefer startups to big companies. We struggle to hire Italian students from universities. Are we still traditionalists even in the new generations?”.