ONiO, an Oslo-based semiconductor startup, has raised €5 million in a Series A round to scale production of ONiO.zero, a wireless microcontroller that operates entirely on harvested ambient energy. The round was led by Stockholm-based node.vc with Helsinki’s Maki.vc as co-lead. Existing investors EIC Fund and MP Pension also participated. ONiO.zero integrates a RISC-V CPU, radios, power management, and memory into a single chip and is capable of cold-starting from below 1µW. It is designed for use in batteryless or energy-harvesting IoT applications, including environmental sensors, asset trackers, and electronic shelf labels. The funding will be used to expand manufacturing, deliver developer kits, and support adoption in commercial pilot projects.
ONiO develops ultra-low-power microcontrollers designed to operate without batteries. The company’s flagship product, ONiO.zero, is a wireless microcontroller that harvests ambient energy from sources such as solar, thermal, RF, and piezoelectric inputs. Built on a RISC-V architecture, ONiO.zero integrates processing, memory, radios, and power management on a single chip, and is intended for applications across IoT sectors including environmental sensing, asset tracking, and smart infrastructure. Headquartered in Oslo with operations across the region, ONiO focuses on enabling energy-autonomous electronics to support long-term sustainability and reduce reliance on disposable batteries.
“ONiO represents the kind of breakthrough technology we look for at node.vc,” said Mårten Skogö, Partner at node.vc. “Their ability to power a microcontroller entirely from ambient energy is not only technically impressive — it’s fundamentally changing how we think about sustainable IoT. The team has proven that the technology works in real-world applications, and now it’s time to scale. We’re excited to support ONiO as they bring this game-changing chip to market.”
The recent funding will support ONiO in scaling up production of ONiO.zero, a wireless microcontroller designed to operate entirely on harvested ambient energy. With a cold-start threshold of under 1µW, ONiO.zero can draw power from a variety of sources including solar, radio frequency, thermal, and piezoelectric energy. The device is intended to function without batteries, although it can also be integrated into systems that use them.
ONiO.zero consolidates core computing and communication functions onto a single chip, incorporating a RISC-V CPU, radios, power management, memory, and security components. This level of integration, which traditionally required multiple components, is aimed at reducing complexity and power consumption in embedded systems. The chip has been deployed in pilot use cases such as solar-powered keyboards, electronic shelf labels, environmental sensors, and agricultural monitoring systems.
The technology has undergone extensive development, including performance tuning and validation through real-world testing. Benchmark data reports energy efficiency metrics of 22µW/MHz and 181 Coremark/mJ, with verified cold-start operation below 1µW. With these figures, the company positions ONiO.zero as a viable platform for sustainable, energy-autonomous IoT applications.
As the product moves toward broader adoption, ONiO is also preparing to distribute development kits and reference designs to facilitate integration by engineers across various industries.
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Read the orginal article: https://arcticstartup.com/onio-raises-e5-million-series-a/
