By 2030, it's projected that cooling data centres alone will consume 6% of the world’s energy. In response, the industry is poised to move away from traditional cooling methods towards more efficient, liquid-based technologies. Seizing this pivotal opportunity, deeptech startup Apheros has secured $1.85 million in pre-seed funding to bring its metal foam technology to market, offering a promising solution to this critical challenge.

The funding round, spearheaded by venture capital firm Founderful, will accelerate Apheros' efforts to refine and roll out its innovative cooling solutions based on metal foam technology.

Apheros has developed a patented process to create metal foams with fully open porosity and an exceptional surface area, outperforming conventional cooling materials by a factor of 1,000. This leads to significantly improved heat transfer and flow characteristics, making Apheros’ metal foams an ideal choice for high-performance cooling applications. Importantly, these foams can be seamlessly integrated into existing cooling systems, enabling customers to reduce both energy consumption and cooling expenses.

Founded in August 2023 as a spin-off from ETH Zurich, Apheros was established to address cooling challenges across various industries, including high-performance computing and mobile technology. The company is led by a team with extensive experience in innovation, business development, and technology transfer. Julia Carpenter, Apheros' co-founder and CEO, recently garnered recognition as one of Switzerland’s Top 10 “Founders to Watch” for her pioneering work in metal foam manufacturing. Joining her is co-founder and CTO Gaëlle Andreatta, who brings over 16 years of expertise in R&D, tech transfer, and startup growth.

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.”

Apheros currently targets the thermal management market with a focus on liquid cooling, a segment expanding at a fast pace due to the needs created by the growing demand for High Performance Computing, Artificial Intelligence and Data Centres. More efficient cooling systems are needed to overcome current energy shortages and to reach ambitious climate protection goals. There is a pressing need to introduce higher performing cooling solutions to the 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."

Apheros’ 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.

Lukas Weder, founding partner at Founderful commented: “We are excited to support Apheros’ mission to revolutionize 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."