Exowatt
Modular full-stack renewable energy for businesses
Manufacturing/NPI Engineer - Optics
Relocation to Austin is required if hired; relocation assistance is provided. Domestic and international travel to supplier and manufacturing sites is required as needed.
About the job
- At least 4 years of manufacturing, process, or new product introduction engineering experience with precision optical components or optomechanical assemblies, including lenses, mirrors, coatings, concentrators, or comparable high-precision hardware.
- Working knowledge of optical fabrication and assembly processes, including molding, polishing, coating, replication, precision alignment, and bonding, and their volume-production failure modes.
- Hands-on experience with optical metrology tools and methods, including interferometry, spectrophotometry, coordinate measuring machines, imaging-based alignment verification, or equivalent methods.
- Experience taking hardware through new product introduction phase gates, including prototype, engineering validation test, design validation test, and production validation test or equivalent, into volume production.
- Supplier-facing experience with qualification builds, audits, first article inspection, and driving corrective action with external partners.
- Fluency with geometric dimensioning and tolerancing, statistical process control, process failure mode and effects analysis, control plans, and structured root-cause methods such as 8D or 5-Why.
- A bachelor's degree in Optical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Physics, or a related field, or equivalent demonstrated engineering depth.
- Willingness to travel domestically and internationally as needed.
- Own new product introduction for optical components and assemblies from design-for-manufacturing feedback during development through pilot builds, qualification, and volume ramp.
- Develop, document, and validate manufacturing and assembly processes for precision optics, including alignment, bonding, coating, cleaning, and handling procedures.
- Define and implement optical metrology and quality controls for surface figure, transmittance and reflectance, alignment tolerances, and coating durability, including supplier acceptance criteria.
- Qualify and develop domestic and international optics manufacturing and assembly suppliers by running process audits, first article inspections, and PPAP or qualification builds, and driving corrective actions to closure.
- Partner with design engineering to translate optical performance requirements into manufacturable specifications, realistic tolerances, and scalable processes.
- Lead root-cause analysis and corrective action for optical yield, quality, and reliability issues across pilot and production builds.
- Drive cost-reduction and yield-improvement initiatives as production scales while balancing optical performance, manufacturability, and cost.
- Build documentation for scale, including work instructions, control plans, process failure mode and effects analyses, and process flow diagrams for optical manufacturing and assembly.
- Travel to domestic and international supplier and manufacturing sites to support builds, qualifications, and issue resolution.
- Experience manufacturing optics for solar, automotive, lighting, display, or other cost-driven high-volume applications rather than low-volume scientific or aerospace optics.
- Familiarity with Fresnel lenses, lamination processes, reflector or concentrator optics, or non-imaging optics.
- Knowledge of optical coating processes and environmental durability testing, including abrasion, humidity, thermal cycling, and ultraviolet exposure.
- Experience establishing new production lines or transferring processes between suppliers or geographies, including in Asia.
- Working knowledge of injection molding, glass forming, or roll-to-roll replication for optical surfaces.
- Experience in an early-stage or fast-ramp hardware environment where manufacturing processes were built rather than inherited.
About the company
Exowatt designs, installs, and maintains modular full-stack renewable energy systems for commercial and industrial clients. Its products are customizable energy solutions built from modular components that can be designed to meet specific energy needs and regulatory requirements, then installed on-site and supported through ongoing maintenance. The company’s approach combines consulting, system design, installation, and long-term service into a single, integrated package, enabling a seamless transition to renewables. This end-to-end service helps clients scale energy capacity as needed and manage energy performance over time. Exowatt differentiates itself by offering a true full-stack, modular package that covers from initial assessment to ongoing upkeep, fostering long-term relationships rather than one-off projects. Its goal is to help businesses lower both their carbon footprint and energy costs by moving to renewable energy with adaptable, scalable systems.
Company Size
51-200
Company Stage
Series A
Total Funding
$90M
Headquarters
Miami, Florida
Founded
2023
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- Exowatt raised $50 million in November 2025, reaching $140 million total funding.
- The January 2026 ExoRise launch targets a 90+ GWh signed-demand backlog.
- Austin's 11-acre campus expands manufacturing capacity for AI data-center deployments.
What critics are saying
- Exowatt still lacks a commercially proven pilot before end-2026.
- Mainspring, batteries, and other firm-power options already ship; Exowatt remains development-stage.
- If P3 misses cost or reliability targets, its 90+ GWh backlog evaporates.
What makes Exowatt unique
- ExoRise bundles land, power, and data-center shells into one 2026 product.
- P3 stores solar as heat, then dispatches electricity day and night.
- Austin manufacturing and Miami engineering enable domestically assembled, containerized energy systems.
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Benefits
Health Insurance
Dental Insurance
401(k) Retirement Plan
Company Equity
Relocation Assistance
Growth & Insights and Company News
6 month growth
↓ -2%1 year growth
↓ -4%2 year growth
↑ 2%Powering the AI era: Exowatt's new campus in Austin, Texas. March 31, 2026 The digital and physical worlds are converging. As artificial intelligence (AI) demand accelerates globally, the need for resilient, scalable, and clean energy infrastructure is becoming critical, especially for data centers. Exowatt believes energy should accelerate progress, not limit it. The opening of its new 11-acre campus in Austin, Texas marked a major milestone in that mission, and Exowatt, Inc. were proud to host investors, Texas-based team members, and local partners for a formal opening to celebrate this next chapter. Why Austin, Texas? A strategic hub for AI and energy infrastructure. The Southwest has rapidly become the epicenter of AI infrastructure growth in the United States, with Texas leading the way. Austin, in particular, offers a powerful combination of technical talent, energy availability, and pro-growth policy, making it one of the most important regions for data center and energy innovation. "We are witnessing a historic collision between the digital demand for AI and the physical reality of our power grid. Our new Austin campus allows us to scale at the pace of our customers, delivering the foundational infrastructure that will define this decade of technological growth." - Hannan Happi, CEO and CoFounder, Exowatt Built for scale: A new hub for modular energy systems. This facility is more than an office - it's a fully integrated hub for designing, building, and deploying Exowatt's modular energy systems. The 48,000-square-foot campus combines office and warehouse space, enabling close collaboration across engineering, operations, and manufacturing. That proximity matters. Faster iteration cycles, tighter coordination, and streamlined production all contribute to one outcome: speed. And in today's AI-driven economy, speed is everything. Exowatt is also investing in a domestically built supply chain to support U.S.-based energy infrastructure. This approach helps meet rising demand from AI data centers while strengthening national energy resilience and security. Momentum for the future of AI energy infrastructure. The Austin expansion builds on strong momentum for Exowatt. Earlier this year, Exowatt, Inc. launched ExoRise, a platform focused on delivering turnkey powered land solutions across high-solar regions, including New Mexico, West Texas, Arizona, and Nevada. With a $50 million Series A extension closed late last year, Exowatt is well positioned to support the next generation of AI infrastructure, data center energy systems, and scalable compute.
Exowatt, a clean power company targeting AI-era energy needs, has opened an 11-acre Austin office, featuring 48,000 square feet of integrated office and warehouse space. The facility will serve as a hub for engineering, operations and manufacturing as the company scales production of modular energy systems. Founded in 2023, Exowatt recently closed a $50 million Series A extension and launched ExoRise, a business arm focused on turnkey powered land solutions in high-solar regions across the US Southwest. The Austin expansion positions the company in what has become the epicentre of US AI infrastructure buildout. Exowatt is backed by a16z, Atomic, Felicis, Overmatch Ventures and Sam Altman. The company aims to deliver dedicated renewable energy to meet growing AI and data centre demand.
Exowatt, a renewable energy startup, has appointed four executives to scale its dispatchable solar technology for AI data centres. The company's P3 system converts solar energy into heat for long-duration storage and on-demand power dispatch. Nic Bustamante joins as Chief Data Centre Officer to lead ExoRise, Exowatt's turnkey-powered land solution. Bill Flood becomes Head of Engineering, bringing 35 years of aerospace experience from Moog, Boeing and Lockheed. Kalyan Bhamidi joins as Head of Supply Chain & Manufacturing from Apple, where he led OLED technology and Vision Pro Display manufacturing. Pierson Stoecklein is appointed General Counsel & Head of Government Affairs, previously serving at Amazon Web Services. Founded in 2023, Exowatt is backed by a16z, Atomic, Felicis and Sam Altman.
Exowatt launches ExoRise at PTC: breaking the AI energy bottleneck. Fresh off a week of high-level sessions and networking at the Pacific Telecommunications Conference (PTC) in Honolulu, the Exowatt team is back with more than just industry insights. Exowatt, Inc. is proud to announce the official launch of ExoRise, its solution to the infrastructure bottleneck currently stalling the AI revolution. ExoRise is its direct response to the aging U.S. power grid - a physical roadblock that threatens America's leadership in the AI revolution. As hyperscalers race to build capacity, they are hitting a wall of grid interconnection timelines that stretch years into the future. ExoRise is the fast-track around that wall. What is ExoRise? Led by industry veteran and Exowatt's new Chief Data Center Officer, Nic Bustamante, ExoRise delivers turnkey powered land and energy infrastructure purpose-built for AI. By pairing strategic land development in the U.S. Southwest with its proprietary P3 modular solar technology, Exowatt, Inc. bypass the traditional strains on urban grids. Exowatt, Inc. is not just selling a product; Exowatt, Inc. is providing a "plug-and-play" solution for hyperscale deployment. * Accelerated Speed to Power: By developing in high-solar regions (NM, TX, AZ, NV), Exowatt, Inc. bypass years of utility bureaucracy. * 24/7 Dispatchable Solar: Unlike intermittent renewables, its P3 technology stores energy as heat, converting it to electricity on demand to power data centers day and night. * Integrated Infrastructure: As CEO Hannan Happi notes, "Hyperscalers should not have to piece together land, power, and infrastructure on their own." Exowatt, Inc. provide the full stack so its customers can focus on compute. A virtual reality deep dive. To give the industry a true sense of scale, Exowatt hosted an immersive virtual reality (VR) event at PTC. Attendees joined Hannan Happi and Nic Bustamante for a walkthrough of an ExoRise site, experiencing the future of modular energy firsthand. Exowatt, Inc. also took the stage for a featured panel. Hannan and Nic were joined by Bill Mazzetti, SVP, Rosendin and Scott Charter, Director of AI Strategy, Oracle to discuss why ExoRise is essential for maintaining a competitive advantage in the global AI arena. Three key takeaways. Its team of Exonauts walked away with a clear signal: the conversation has shifted from "How do we build?" to "How do we power?" These three insights from the ground in Honolulu confirm that ExoRise is meeting the market exactly where it's headed. * Energy is the New Alpha: Every session related to power and energy was standing room only. Energy is no longer just a utility cost; it has become the hottest "commodity" in the global data center industry. This shift is drawing a new crowd to the table, including high-level financiers, researchers, and policymakers all looking for the same thing: power certainty. * From Real Estate to "Power-First": Historically, data centers have been framed as a real estate game - land, buildings, and leases. While those elements still matter, the industry "moat" has shifted to execution. The winners will be the companies with a proven playbook for delivering physical power systems, navigating complex permitting and interconnection, and mobilizing skilled labor and capital. * Scalability is the Only Filter: The market is full of interesting ideas, but the industry is now applying a strict filter: Can this scale fast enough to keep up with AI? Speed and repeatability are the new gold standards. The winners will be those who can prove scalable, real-world deployment without being sidelined by supply chain or grid constraints. [Building the energy foundation for the future]. ExoRise is already addressing a 90+ GWh backlog of signed customer demand. With its first pilot project slated to be operational by the end of 2026, Exowatt, Inc. is not just building power plants - Exowatt, Inc. is building the energy foundation for the future of intelligence.
Exowatt raises additional $50M in funding. Exowatt, a Miami, FL-based renewable energy company, raised additional $50M in funding. The round, an extension to Exowatt's April 2025 $70M Series A round, was led by MVP Ventures and 8090 Industries, with participation from The Florida Opportunity Fund, DeepWork Capital, Dragon Global, Massive VC, New Atlas Capital, BAM, Overmatch, Protagonist, StepStone, Atomic, and Bay Bridge Ventures. The company intends to use the funds to expand its development efforts. Founded in 2023 by Hannan Happi and Atomic CEO Jack Abraham, Exowatt provides P3, a modular, dispatchable solar system that enables controllable, around-the-clock output by storing solar energy in the form of heat and converting it to power during peak demand hours and throughout the night. Designed for rapid-siting and scale-out, it can be co-located at or near load, providing the firm, sustainable capacity that data centers require while reducing dependence on constrained grid interconnection. Exowatt's initial Seed round of $20M included notable angel investors Sam Altman, CEO of Open AI, and actor and environmentalist, Leonardo DiCaprio.