Swiss deeptech startup Apheros has raised $1.85 million in pre-seed funding. The round was led by Switzerland’s pre-seed venture fund Founderful, which recently invested in NetFabric and Axmed).
How will it use the investment?
The fresh investment will accelerate development and deployment of Apheros’ revolutionary metal foam-based cooling solutions.
Lukas Weder, founding partner at Founderful commented: “We are excited to support Apheros’ mission to revolutionise cooling technology. Apheros’ groundbreaking approach has the potential to significantly reduce energy consumption and set new industry standards. We are confident in the team’s vision and capabilities and look forward to seeing the positive impact they will make on both the industry and the environment “
What change does it bring?
Data centres are the backbone of the digital age, with unprecedented demand for digital infrastructure driven by the surge in the use of AI, machine learning, and supercomputing. However, their energy consumption is skyrocketing. By 2030, an estimated six percent of global energy consumption will be used specifically for cooling data centres. A shift from traditional cooling methods to more cost- and energy efficient liquid-based solutions is inevitable. Enabling this transition, is the deep tech startup Apheros.
What does Apheros do?
Apheros was founded in 2023 as an ETH Zurich spin-off by Julia Carpenter and Gaëlle Andreatta. While Julia was recently named one of MITs Reviews “Innovators under 35” for her invention of Apheros’ novel metal foam manufacturing process, Gaëlle has over 16 years of experience in R&D, Tech Transfer, and start-up development.
The company’s vision is to catalyse the transition to a more sustainable future through materials innovation. Apheros will redefine sustainable, high-performance liquid cooling and establish its products as the gold standard for sustainable, high-performance liquid cooling.
It aims to tackle cooling challenges in a wide range of applications including high-performance computing and mobile devices.
As more efficient cooling systems are needed to overcome current energy shortages and to reach ambitious climate protection goals, the company targets the thermal management market with a focus on liquid cooling. This is a segment, which is expanding at a fast pace due to the needs created by the growing demand for High Performance Computing, Artificial Intelligence and Data Centres.
Julia Carpenter, co-founder and CEO of Apheros commented: “Our technology has the potential to set new industry standards and significantly reduce the environmental impact of cooling solutions worldwide. This funding round will allow us to advance our mission of helping our customers achieve superior thermal performance, increase energy efficiency, and contribute to a greener future. Immediately, we will expand production, increase research and development efforts, and bring state-of-the-art solutions to a broader market.”
Gaëlle Andreatta, co-founder and CTO of Apheros added: “There is a dire need for more efficient cooling solutions. AI development is driving exponential growth in data centre energy consumption and inefficient cooling is the main culprit. Our unique metal foams have superior heat exchange and fluid transport properties, especially for liquid and two-phase cooling. With our customers, we are redefining thermal management.”
What do we think about Apheros?
The startup is pioneering metal foam-based liquid cooling solutions. Founded in 2023, it aims to revolutionise thermal management, reducing energy consumption and environmental impact in data centres, high-performance computing, and mobile devices. Apheros’ technology addresses the urgent need for efficient cooling, crucial for sustainable digital infrastructure growth amidst rising global energy demands.
