Startup Voya Energy Proposes Solution to Replace Noisy Diesel Generators in Data Centers

In 2023, venture capitalist Shell Kahn from Energy Impact Partners has been pondering a long-standing question: how to eliminate the noisy and polluting diesel generators that most AI data centers use for backup power. He posed the question to his head of technology: is there no material that can match the extremely high energy density of hydrocarbons while also providing clean and quiet power?

This led to the birth of Voya Energy, a startup based in Hayward, California. The company plans to use a new electrochemical process to convert waste aluminum into electricity, with zero emissions, no toxic waste, and no noise, as a replacement for diesel generators. In August of this year, Kahn's fund led a $35 million Series A funding round for Voya, giving the company a post-money valuation of $113 million.

Voya is one of three energy tech companies selected for The Information's 2026 list of "50 Most Promising Tech Startups," released on Wednesday. The other two companies are Critical Loop, based in Long Beach, California, which specializes in rapid backup power generation and gained attention after securing a large contract to power Anduril Industries' aviation facilities; and Parallax, a San Francisco startup that manufactures natural gas turbines using 3D printing technology.

All three startups are riding the largest technological wave in decades, providing power solutions for AI data centers.

Voya's CEO, Richard Wang, an expert in battery technology recruited by Kahn, stated that the company plans to launch pilot aluminum-based generators in 2028 and deliver commercial models to AI data centers and other customers in 2029. However, the concept is still largely in the conceptual stage: no company has previously used metals as fuel to power commercial industrial facilities; Voya has only created a simple prototype of the device.

The device works by processing waste aluminum, such as soda cans, into small aluminum particles; a mechanical device feeds the particles into the generator, where they react with an electrolyte to release the electrochemically stored energy, which is then delivered to the data center. The consumed aluminum is transformed into trihydrate aluminum oxide, which can be reprocessed into aluminum particles for recycling, Wang explained.

The Voya project originated from Kahn and his colleagues at Energy Impact Partners. In early 2024, they noticed an existing technological concept: some metals can store electrical energy and efficiently output high-power electricity like fossil fuels. They decided to fund a startup to validate whether this idea could be commercialized.

In early 2024, Kahn met Richard Wang, a next-generation battery technology expert, through a mutual friend. Wang had gained industry attention in 2021 when he sold Cuberg, a lithium metal battery startup he co-founded while studying at Stanford, to Northvolt, with the transaction amount undisclosed. In early 2024, Northvolt shut down Cuberg's operations; months later, Northvolt declared bankruptcy.

At that time, Wang was unemployed. After being introduced by a friend, he met Kahn and shared his idea for replacing diesel generators. Initially, Wang was skeptical. He recalled his response at the time: "This idea is still immature. To be honest, I don't think it's enough to start a company yet, and I'm not sure if I'm the right person to do this."

However, he agreed to join Energy Impact Partners as a technology researcher to further explore the concept. About four months later, he gradually recognized the direction. He told me, "You can see that the production difficulty of metal raw materials is low, and the consumption of metals for power generation is simple; metals and metal oxides can easily convert into each other."

Wang screened metals from the periodic table and ultimately focused on magnesium, zinc, iron, and aluminum as suitable for power generation, conducting comparative tests, with aluminum emerging as the winner. He said, "Aluminum has significant advantages: it has the highest energy density and is abundant, making it a readily available commodity."

Wang then informed Kahn that he had changed his mind. Kahn recalled, "He came to us and said, 'This is worth starting a company for, and I want to lead it.'" In April 2025, Energy Impact Partners led a $13 million seed funding round for Voya.

Wang envisioned a standard power system consisting of two containers: one is a standard 20-foot container housing a 2-megawatt aluminum generator; the other is a 10-foot container storing enough aluminum particles to produce 100 megawatt-hours of electricity.

Wang stated that this system has multiple advantages: aluminum's energy density can rival that of hydrocarbon fuels; aluminum is non-flammable and does not produce emissions during storage, thus occupying far less space than diesel in industrial settings. Voya claims that this device can convert 57% of the energy in aluminum particles into electricity, higher than the average 35% conversion efficiency of diesel generators.

One major pollution aspect of aluminum is the electrolytic smelting process. Voya currently uses waste aluminum as raw material, bypassing the issues associated with smelting. However, Wang noted that existing technologies can significantly reduce energy consumption and pollutant emissions during the metal smelting process.

"Our long-term goal is to design the electrolytic cell and the entire system ourselves, even to build our own factory. We believe that only in this way can we minimize the cost of aluminum," Wang said.

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