PeraWatt targets wasted power with magnetic materials and Activate Berkeley support
PeraWatt is developing soft magnetic materials for the cores inside power-conversion equipment and electric motors. Its intended customers include designers of power converters, which change electricity into the form equipment needs. Co-founders Lucy Wu and Edson Perez joined the Activate Berkeley 2026 fellowship cohort as the company works to turn its research into components.
From magnetic material to component
A power supply must convert electricity between voltages or between alternating and direct current. Some energy is lost as heat along the way. If a magnetic component can reduce those losses under the conditions a converter actually runs in, its designer could have a way to waste less power and manage less heat.
The word “soft” refers to magnetic behavior, not texture: these materials can change their magnetic field rapidly. PeraWatt is developing them for cores in inductors and transformers, components used in power electronics. The company says the material originated in research at Sandia National Laboratories and uses raw materials without critical minerals or rare earths.