Phononic Vibes raises €25m led by Jolt Capital to scale lighter noise control

Phononic Vibes, a Milan-based company that designs and manufactures noise and vibration control products, has raised €25 million in a round led by Paris-based deeptech growth investor Jolt Capital, the companies announced on 22 October 2026. Existing investors Eureka! Venture SGR, CDP Venture Capital SGR and Simest also took part.

The transaction includes Jolt Capital's purchase of the stake held by 360 Capital since the seed round, which 360 Capital describes as a completed exit. The deal was also reported by EU-Startups.

Lighter noise barriers through metamaterials

Conventional noise control follows a simple physical rule: to block more sound, you add more mass. Phononic Vibes takes a different approach. It designs acoustic metamaterials, structures whose shape rather than weight does much of the work of absorbing sound and vibration.

According to the announcement, its products weigh up to 30 percent less than conventional solutions at the same acoustic performance, or perform better at the same weight. That figure comes from the company and its investor and has not been independently verified by Europreneurs Media.

The company's core asset is what it calls a proprietary design engine, protected by 18 patent families. It turns metamaterial physics into certified products and draws on application libraries that grow with each project, so new markets can start from proven designs.

Customers in rail and cars

Phononic Vibes points to two demanding reference customers. Deutsche Bahn has certified its transparent noise barrier for the German rail network, which the company describes as the first see-through panel the railway rates as highly absorbing. Mercedes-Benz uses its technology in series production, which the company calls the first metamaterial in a series-production car. Contractors such as Webuild and Eteria also use its barriers, according to Jolt Capital.

The company was founded in 2018 by Luca D'Alessandro, Giovanni Capellari and Stefano Caverni as a spin-off of Politecnico di Milano, and designs and manufactures its products in Italy. It says revenue has doubled every year since 2018 and that it reached break-even in 2025. Startup.eu reports that it has around 100 employees and three production sites in Italy. Phononic Vibes also leads a group of established European manufacturers that includes Matis, founded in 1979.

What the money is for

The funding will be used to scale the design engine internationally, bring the technology into new applications and strengthen delivery capabilities. Targeted acquisitions are also part of the plan, to extend the reach of the technology and add industrial capabilities to the group. The company is aiming at data centres, railways, energy networks and factories, as well as electric vehicles.

CEO and co-founder Luca D'Alessandro said in the announcement: "Weight has always been the price of quiet. We have shown it is a design choice, with two of Europe's most demanding customers."

Andrea Traversone, Managing Partner at Jolt Capital, said conventional products "have hit their physical limit" and that this is Jolt Capital V's first investment in Italy. Jolt Capital V is a fund targeting €1 billion and nearing final close, focused on European deeptech growth companies.

One detail is worth noting for anyone tracking the numbers. Because the deal includes the purchase of 360 Capital's existing stake, the announcement does not say how much of the €25 million is new money going into the company, as Moneymakers has pointed out.

What it means for European founders and investors

Phononic Vibes is a useful case of a university spin-off that took the long road from lab to industry. It started at Politecnico di Milano, raised a €2.3 million round in 2020 according to EU-Startups, and spent years getting certified by large customers before raising growth capital. In noise control, certification by an operator like Deutsche Bahn is a hard-won moat.

The deal also shows a pattern that European deeptech needs more of: a growth investor buying out an early-stage fund. Secondary sales like this one give seed investors such as 360 Capital a real exit without an IPO or trade sale, which helps them return money to their own backers and fund the next generation of startups.

Finally, the round adds to a busy week for industrial and hard tech in southern Europe, alongside Portuguese drone maker Beyond Vision. For founders in deeptech, the lesson is that boring-sounding markets like noise barriers can carry real growth when the product is lighter, certified and easier to install.

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