Iceotope hails the ‘deal of the century’ after $10m funding

YORKSHIRE start-up Iceotope, which has developed a liquid-based method to cool computer servers, has raised international investment of more than $10m.

The Sheffield-based firm said it has completed a ‘series A’ funding round led by international venture capital firm Aster Capital alongside Ombu Group, a UK investment company which backs high growth technology businesses.

Iceotope said the investment represents “a significant step” in allowing the firm to further commercialise its liquid cooling system for the £250bn global data centre and high performance computing markets.

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The business developed its liquid cooling system as an alternative to the current method of cooling servers which uses air.

But Iceotope said that liquid is several thousand times more effective at transferring heat than air and uses significantly less energy to do so. Since Iceotope installed its first production system at the University of Leeds in early 2012, the company has begun rolling out its cooling system throughout Europe.

“This really is the deal of the century for us” said Iceotope founder and CEO, Peter Hopton. “As a start-up in the north of England, it’s fantastic that Iceotope’s technology has attracted the investment of an international consortium. We strongly believe that our technology has the potential to revolutionise the HPC (high performance computing) and data centre industry.”

In addition to the capital raised, Iceotope said the deal also allows it to establish close cooperation with Aster’s strategic sponsors, particularly global energy management specialist Schneider Electric.

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Iceotope, which manufactures from Sheffield, said that the funding will help it hire more staff, expand into new geographical markets and more ambitious ‘supercomputing’ projects.

Mr Hopton said: “The support provided by our new investors, along with a new partnership opportunity with Schneider Electric, will have a big impact on the development of the company.”