Cooling Intelligence Platform Therma° Raises $19 Million

By Annie Baker • Feb 9, 2023
  • Therma° recently announced it raised $19 million in funding. These are the details.

Therma° – a cooling intelligence platform combating food and energy waste – announced it raised $19 million in Series A funding. This oversubscribed round was led by Zero Infinity Partners with participation from Deciens Capital, CityRock Venture Partners, Homecoming Capital, Ananta Capital, Kindergarten Ventures, Collaborative Fund, and Govtech Fund.

Therma° is going to deploy the funding to become a scalable electric grid partner by dynamically lowering energy demand from cooling assets while saving customers money on utility bills.

Cooling, which includes refrigeration and HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) is essential for human health. And it is also the least understood major driver of climate change, accounting for nearly 10% of global carbon dioxide emissions – including energy use, food waste, and refrigerant leakage.

Cooling also drives emissions when extreme weather and high energy prices cause power shortages, forcing utilities to turn on expensive and dirty fossil fuel-based “peaker”power plants to maintain infrastructure and safety.

The Therma° Cooling Intelligence Platform uses temperature tracking and energy optimization to alert customers to equipment breakdowns, reduce energy consumption, and move electricity usage to off-peak hours. And Therma’s vision is to transform cooling systems into virtual power plants that provide cheaper, cleaner energy while preventing billions of metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

Therma° is currently deployed with over a thousand customers across restaurants, hospitality, education, and food manufacturing including McDonald’s, Domino’s, Marriott Hotels and NOW Foods.

KEY QUOTES:

“The massive growth of refrigeration and air conditioning globally will greatly accelerate climate change unless we revolutionize cooling technologies.”

— Manik Suri, Therma° Founder and CEO

“How do we best meet the ever-growing demands for cooling in the age of soaring energy prices and electric grid instability? We are excited about Therma’s innovative answer to this crucial and underserved problem.”

— John Kwaak, Managing Partner at Zero Infinity Partners

“Since we invested in Therma° two years ago, they have tripled revenue each year. Therma’s vision to transform refrigeration into energy storage will advance energy security around the world.”

— Dan Kimerling, Managing Partner at Deciens Capital

“It is rare to find a start-up that successfully reinvents a legacy piece of ubiquitous technology like a refrigerator to prevent both energy and food waste.”

— Oliver Libby, co-founding Managing Partner of leading NYC impact investing firm CityRock Venture Partners