Monegasque company Magtor is positioning itself at the forefront of green tech innovation. Co-founded by a Monegasque and a Monaco resident, the company is simultaneously revolutionising the compressor and pumping application industry and contributing to the Principality’s worldwide renown as a place that champions sustainable excellence.
To learn more about this pioneering company and the objectives that drive its team, Monaco Life speaks to Jeremy Hein, the co-founder and CTO of Magtor.
In the world of technology, there are always revolutions. While some take place in full view, others are quieter, occurring behind the scenes. This is where Magtor comes in.
Magtor, a technology firm established in 2011 by Jeremy Hein, a Monegasque IT engineer at heart, and his partner, a fellow Monegasque citizen, is a company that is providing a unique solution to the current problems that compressor and pumping appliances face – industries that often go unnoticed.
Magtor’s solution is an ultra-high-efficiency linear electric motor that will reduce running costs as well as the environmental footprint of businesses, homes, and vehicles worldwide, making it hard to overlook.
Together, Hein and his partner are the inventors of the Magtor linear drive, the world’s first linear electric motor with the unique ability to achieve long-distance magnetic interactions.
Hein also masterminded the Magtor Intellectual Property Pool. Now, he is focusing on the development and production of Magtor-driven end products while further developing Magtor’s intellectual property strategy. Indeed, Magtor is the Monegasque company with the largest number of patents to its name.
Establishing such a forward-thinking product as the ultra-high-efficiency linear electric motor did not come without its trials.
“We had all kinds of challenges: technical, financial and the industry,” says Hein. “The industry has a lot of inertia because most of the developments in the last 20 years were related to the internet, data collection, algorithms and AI, so the hardware was left behind.”
As he explains, this is where he found a niche in the industry: to focus on hardware technology.
“We are here to solve problems”
Developments in energy-efficient technologies are important in our ever-changing world, and leveraging technological advancements is key. With issues such as climate change, resource depletion and pollution, among others, technology has emerged as a crucial player in addressing these risks.
“I am convinced that any problem we are facing can be solved by technology,” reveals Hein. “I am an engineer and, as engineers, we are here to solve problems.”
When addressing these pressing challenges, he stresses, “What we need to do is do more using less.”
His view is that green technologies can provide the lifestyle we need without harming the environment.
“Climate change is here, and the biggest challenge is to adapt because if society does not adapt, it collapses,” he says wisely.
An essential aspect of this adaptation is optimisation: how to build on existing technology to make it more efficient to tackle the problem.
The core Magtor drive is now being adapted to compressor and pump applications, but this is not the only industry that Hein has his eyes set on.
“This is an area driven by scarcity as the supply is less than the demand,” he tells Monaco Life.
Magtor plays a crucial role in this industry as, says Hein, “What we provide is a fundamental component to these units and other applications.”
The linear electric motor is to be used initially to significantly improve the efficiency of the compressors that are found in fridges, air conditioning units, freezers, heat pumps, washing and drying machines, and air compressor applications, to name but a few of the household items that we use in our daily lives, but don’t pay too much attention to.
An astonishing fact? As of 2024, the air compressor market is worth USD $37.80 billion, and it will increase to USD $47.54 billion by 2029, according to Mordor Intelligence industry reports.
Hein, meanwhile, argues that the scale of this industry is still undervalued despite a billion units being required globally each year.
Recognition
Magtor’s technology is currently featured in the UN WIPO Green Technology Book 2023 edition on climate change mitigation, the only Monegasque technology to be listed. The book can be accessed here, with Magtor being featured on page 49.
“It was the best satisfaction I could have received as an engineer and a proud Monegasque,” says Hein.
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