Swiss startup Apheros announced the completion of a $1.85 million pre-seed funding round led by venture capital firm Founderful. According to the startup, the investments received will allow it to accelerate the development and implementation of solutions for liquid cooling systems based on metal foam.
Founded in Zurich last year out of a division of the ETH Zurich university, Apheros has developed a patented technology to create foam metals with “unprecedented properties.” Thanks to its large surface area and low density, the new material has improved heat transfer and low flow resistance, making it ideal for high-performance cooling systems. The author of the development is Julia Carpenter, co-founder and CEO of Apheros, whose doctoral dissertation at ETH Zurich is dedicated to foam metal.
Image source: Apheros
The company’s website states that Apheros’ metal foam microstructure “excellently dissipates heat,” including in liquid cooling systems, including two-phase evaporative liquid cooling systems, with which the company’s solution can be easily integrated today. In addition, Apheros technology can be useful for creating electrodes and catalysts.
The company has already created the first product using copper foam. It is said to be the ultimate passive cooling solution that significantly outperforms current technologies both in terms of efficiency and environmental impact thanks to its low-waste production method.
Apheros has tested its products with unnamed technology partners and is now seeking to commercialize its solutions. The company expects to scale production to several tons within a year. At the same time, to equip one data center from scratch or modernize it, several hundred kilograms of foam metal will be required.