Niron Magnetics Receives Strategic Investment from Western Digital Capital

February 23, 2022 at 09:00 AM EST

Investment to accelerate next-generation Clean Earth Magnet™ development for use in hard disk drives for enterprise cloud storage, data centers and more

Niron Magnetics, the company developing the world’s first high-performance permanent magnets free of rare earths, today announced it has received an investment from Western Digital Capital, the investment arm of data storage solutions provider Western Digital. The new funding will enable Niron to build upon its innovative Clean Earth Magnet™ to deliver better performance at lower costs, while eliminating the need for rare earth materials.

“As demand in the data storage market continues to grow, innovation is essential to find an alternative for the magnets used in the actuators of disk read- and-write heads and spindle drive motors while avoiding environmentally damaging rare earth mining and mitigating the risk of supply disruptions,” said Andy Blackburn, CEO of Niron Magnetics. “The new investment from Western Digital Capital demonstrates strong global interest in utilizing our unique Clean Earth Magnet technology to create a more sustainable future in data storage.”

Niron’s Clean Earth Magnet technology, developed from a decade of research, leverages materials science innovations to eliminate the need for rare earth content in magnets and instead uses some of the most common elements on earth – iron and nitrogen. Clean Earth Magnets are less expensive, more sustainable, globally available, and are made from abundant input materials not subject to supply constraints or price instability. Niron’s production process is up to 95% less damaging across certain environmental impacts than alternatives, as its input materials require no toxic mining and refining. The second generation of Niron’s Clean Earth Magnet is expected to offer an industry leading magnetic field strength and address applications in various areas of data storage, including HDDs for enterprise cloud storage, data centers and more.

“Western Digital is driving toward a more sustainable supply chain, and magnets play a critical role in that chain for HDDs,” said Dan Steere, Senior Vice President, Western Digital Capital. "While most of the materials used in our HDDs are plentiful and readily available, rare earth magnets are difficult to process and available only in limited geographies and quantities. Niron’s technology has the potential to help strengthen our supply chain and reduce the life cycle impacts of our products.”

To learn more about Niron Magnetics and its Clean Earth Magnet technology, please visit https://nironmagnetics.com/.

About Niron Magnetics

Niron Magnetics is developing the world’s first advanced manufacturing process for the mass production of permanent magnets powered by its breakthrough material formulation. Niron’s proprietary Clean Earth Magnet™ technology based on Iron nitride enables magnets that possess inherently higher magnetization and can be produced at a lower cost compared to today’s rare-earth magnets and will enable a revolution in the design of new electric motors and generators. Niron participates in a U.S. Department of Energy funded project that aims to develop more cost effective and sustainable drivetrains for electric vehicles. For more information, please visit https://nironmagnetics.com/.