Summary

• Jolt Capital led the €25m transaction, alongside Eureka! Venture SGR, CDP Venture Capital SGR and Simest.
• Phononic Vibes uses engineered acoustic structures in industrial products, including installations involving Deutsche Bahn and Mercedes-Benz.
• The deal includes Jolt Capital’s acquisition of 360 Capital’s existing holding, with the amount of new capital entering the business undisclosed.

Italian industrial technology company Phononic Vibes has announced a €25 million financing transaction to expand its acoustic materials business, following commercial deployments with Deutsche Bahn and Mercedes-Benz that have taken its university research into established manufacturing and infrastructure markets.

The transaction was led by Jolt Capital through its fifth investment fund, with participation from Eureka! Venture SGR, CDP Venture Capital SGR and Simest. Announced on 22 October, it includes the acquisition of an existing stake held by seed investor 360 Capital, which is exiting the company.

Founded in 2018 as a spinout from Politecnico di Milano, Phononic Vibes designs products that reduce noise and vibration by incorporating specialised geometric structures into materials. Its technology is intended to achieve useful acoustic performance without relying entirely on the additional mass commonly associated with conventional barriers and enclosures.

The company plans to use its strengthened investment position to develop international sales, enter additional markets and expand its manufacturing capabilities. Management has also identified targeted acquisitions as a possible route to extending production capacity and geographical coverage.

The financing announcement does not disclose the division between newly issued shares and the purchase of 360 Capital’s existing holding. Consequently, the full €25 million should not be interpreted as fresh operating capital received by Phononic Vibes.

Sound control through structural design

Traditional noise reduction systems use combinations of heavy barriers, sound absorbing materials and mechanical isolation to limit the movement of acoustic energy. These approaches can be effective but may introduce weight, space and installation constraints.

Rail infrastructure, industrial machinery and vehicles present different requirements. A railway noise barrier must provide suitable acoustic performance while meeting structural and safety standards, whereas automotive manufacturers may need to control unwanted sound without adding unnecessary vehicle mass.

Phononic Vibes uses acoustic metamaterials, whose geometry influences how sound waves and vibrations move through a structure. Resonant elements and repeating features can be designed to interact with particular frequencies, allowing engineers to target specific forms of noise or vibration.

The approach does not mean that materials cease to have physical importance. Their properties, manufacturing quality and the conditions in which they operate still influence performance. The distinctive contribution lies in using structural design as an additional engineering tool.

Phononic Vibes has developed a proprietary design engine protected by 18 patent families. The company says it uses libraries of earlier configurations to adapt established acoustic designs to new requirements, reducing the need to begin every customer project with a completely new structure.

Design reuse may shorten development work where applications share similar acoustic characteristics. However, different operating frequencies, installation dimensions and environmental conditions can require further testing and adaptation.

The company claims products can weigh up to 30% less than conventional alternatives while providing equivalent acoustic performance. The comparison is not accompanied by an independently published benchmark covering every product or application, so the figure should be treated as a supplier-reported maximum rather than a universal result.

Commercial projects provide an industrial foundation

Deutsche Bahn has certified Phononic Vibes’ transparent noise barrier for use on the German railway network. The product is intended to combine acoustic absorption with visibility, addressing locations where an opaque barrier would be less suitable.

Railway qualification provides evidence that a particular product has met defined requirements. It does not establish that the same structure is automatically suitable for every railway application, where site conditions and applicable standards may differ.

Mercedes-Benz also uses the company’s technology in series production. Automotive components must meet requirements extending beyond acoustic performance, including manufacturing consistency, durability, weight and integration with the surrounding vehicle.

The company’s experience with those customers is relevant because industrial technology suppliers often face a lengthy process between demonstrating a laboratory concept and producing components that can be manufactured repeatedly.

Phononic Vibes designs and manufactures products in Italy, with facilities in Milan and near Parma. Its industrial operations include capabilities associated with Matis, an established manufacturer of noise reduction equipment.

Bringing existing manufacturing expertise into the group can provide experience in production and installation, but expanding into additional applications still requires product development, qualification and customer-specific engineering.

Management says revenue has doubled annually since 2018 and that the business reached break-even in 2025. Those statements were supplied in the investor announcement without audited revenue figures or a disclosed starting base.

The claims suggest progress beyond a research-stage company, although they do not establish its current revenue, operating margin or the share of sales attributable to individual products and customers.

New applications bring different constraints

Phononic Vibes identifies energy infrastructure, industrial facilities and data centres among the markets it intends to pursue. These settings can contain equipment that generates substantial noise, including ventilation systems, transformers, compressors and cooling machinery.

Customers may need to control those emissions to satisfy planning conditions, protect employees or reduce disturbance to surrounding communities. Acoustic treatment must also accommodate access for maintenance, airflow and the operating requirements of the equipment involved.

A solution that reduces weight could make certain installations easier to support structurally, but its usefulness depends on cost, durability, installation effort and the frequencies that need to be controlled.

For data centres, noise management is influenced by the increasing density of computing equipment and the infrastructure required to supply power and remove heat. Phononic Vibes identifies the sector as an opportunity, although the financing announcement does not provide a verified number of completed data centre deployments.

Expanding into these markets will require the company to demonstrate performance under different operating conditions. Acoustic measurements from a railway application cannot simply be transferred to industrial cooling equipment without further validation.

Manufacturing capacity also matters. Customers purchasing equipment for large infrastructure projects need dependable delivery schedules, suitable documentation and arrangements for installation and support over the product’s expected life.

Fresh funding and shareholder liquidity differ

The €25 million transaction combines growth financing with the purchase of shares held by 360 Capital since the company’s early development. These components serve different financial purposes.

Money paid for newly issued shares can provide resources for a business to employ staff, develop products or purchase equipment. Money paid to acquire an existing shareholder’s stake ordinarily goes to the selling investor rather than directly to the company.

Without disclosure of the split, it is not possible to determine how much of the headline transaction value will finance Phononic Vibes’ operating plans.

Jolt Capital describes the investment as its first Italian transaction through Jolt Capital V, a growth fund targeting €1 billion. The fund’s target size is separate from the amount committed to Phononic Vibes and should not be interpreted as financing available to the company.

Existing investors Eureka! Venture SGR and CDP Venture Capital remain involved, while 360 Capital’s departure provides an exit from its seed investment.

The financing gives Phononic Vibes a new shareholder structure and support for its international ambitions. Its industrial performance will ultimately depend on how successfully it can translate established railway and automotive applications into repeatable products for new sectors, while maintaining the cost and acoustic characteristics required by customers.