Voltify, a startup developing a new approach to rail electrification, said Tuesday it has raised $30 million in seed funding to speed development of a platform aimed at cutting energy costs and emissions across the global rail industry.
The company was founded by Dafna Langer and Alon Kessel. The funding round was co-led by venture capital firm Aleph and global mining company Fortescue, with participation from additional strategic investors and angel backers.
Voltify says it is building a system that would allow rail operators to move away from diesel without the heavy infrastructure investments traditionally associated with electrification, while sharply lowering operating costs.
Freight rail remains one of the most energy-intensive parts of global logistics. In the United States alone, the six largest rail operators spend about $11 billion a year on diesel fuel, according to the company. While electrification could cut those costs significantly, the traditional model of installing overhead wires across rail networks would require more than $1 trillion in infrastructure upgrades, making it financially unrealistic for many operators.
Voltify says its alternative is a distributed energy platform that can reduce rail energy costs by more than 20% without requiring changes to rail operations or large capital spending by rail companies.
“We built Voltify to solve one of the rail industry’s biggest challenges: energy costs,” Langer, Voltify’s co-founder and chief executive, said in a statement. “Our platform allows rail companies to access clean, affordable energy without changing the way they operate. If you can reduce energy costs by even 5%, it’s huge. If you can reduce them by more than 20%, it becomes transformative.”
The company’s platform combines battery-powered locomotives, dynamic fast-charging technology and a network of renewable-powered microgrids deployed along rail routes. Unlike conventional electric trains, which must stop to recharge or depend on costly overhead wires, Voltify says its system allows trains to charge while moving, avoiding downtime and preserving existing logistics flows.
The company said its model is also designed to eliminate the so-called green premium.
“Our goal is to lower energy costs by over 20%; this is not just the diesel costs, but all the next energy that the industry needs,” Langer said. “Rail companies shouldn’t have to choose between sustainability and economics. We’re making clean energy the financially smarter option.”
Tomer Diari, a general partner at Aleph, said the company’s electricity-based system could help rail operators lower costs, reduce pollution and cut dependence on diesel.
“Voltify is redefining the energy supply chain for global rail networks,” Diari said. “Their electricity-based solution will help rail operators dramatically reduce costs, pollution and dependency on diesel, and make transporting goods in the U.S. cheaper and more reliable for everyone.”
At the center of Voltify’s approach is a distributed network of renewable-powered microgrids installed along rail corridors. The company said the microgrids generate and store energy locally using solar power, batteries and energy management software, creating an off-grid supply for rail operations.
By producing and managing energy locally, the system is intended to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and improve energy resilience.
“Our vision is to bring the power back to the industry, without dependency on buying diesel elsewhere, this gives the company complete ownership, thus complete freedom,” Langer said.
Voltify says its technology could have a significant climate impact across the global freight network. By 2035, the company says it aims to cut more than 50 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually from rail operations alone. It also says its microgrid network could reduce dependence on high-emission peaker plants, which it says collectively produce more than 60 million tons of carbon dioxide each year.
The company said the system is designed to be fully renewable, autonomous and compliant with the highest safety standards, allowing rail operators to decarbonize without disrupting operations.
Voltify said it has already signed a paid pilot agreement with one of the world’s largest Class I rail companies, with deployment expected to begin in the coming months. It also said it has a growing pipeline of orders from U.S. regional rail operators.
The company expects to demonstrate its fully integrated locomotive, charging and microgrid platform later this year.
“Rail is the backbone of global logistics,” Langer said. “If we can transform how energy is produced and consumed across this network, we unlock enormous economic and environmental benefits.”