FlexCoil · A New Generation of Small Electric Motors: More Powerful, Smaller, Greener

Micromotors are small high-performance electric motors that fit in the palm of a hand. There are many applications that depend on micromotors: prosthetic arms, surgical robots or medical power tools. However, the micromotors currently in use were invented 40 years ago without any real innovation since then. This is about to change with the launch of the FlexCoil technology by Mirmex Motor. The core innovation consists of printing the motor winding (the part generating the magnetic force that creates the rotation) on a flexible PCB (printed circuit board) instead of manufacturing it out of copper wire. Once rolled tubularly, it enables novel winding geometries, currently impossible with conventional technology. This improves the performance of the micromotors in terms of compactness or efficiency.Mirmex Motor is a spin-off from the UCL (Université Catholique de Louvain) with an exclusive exploitation license on the technology. After 7 years of research, the IP is protected by 2 patent applications, the inventors being part of the company founding team. Discussions with important sectorial end-users have indicated a strong interest in high added-value industries such as the medical, aeronautical, aerospace and robotics sectors, representing a market potential over €1 billion. An illustrative example of the positive impact of FlexCoil on EU citizens is the development of better active prostheses that could change the lives of those who need them. Their weight and their autonomy drastically depend on the motor performance. This is a problem that we can solve! With this Phase 1 SME grant request, Mirmex Motor plans to further validate key hypothesis regarding the market size, the willingness to pay from the customers, and the manufacturing ramp-up requirements. The company should reach +€20M in revenues by 2024 based on the sales of windings (€5-€150) to system manufacturers and complete motors (€100-€600) to system integrators.