Portfolio company Temperate has announced a new SAFE funding round led by Adapt Capital. This marks a significant step forward in its mission to reinvent cooling for a warming world. For Temperate, the investment will support the expansion of its breakthrough low energy cooling technology into homes, businesses, and industrial applications at a time when efficient cooling is becoming increasingly critical.
Climate Change Leaves Cooling Industry Hot Under the Collar
Refrigeration and HVAC systems run continuously, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, which makes them one of the most persistent drivers of operational energy costs. In the UK, where industrial electricity prices are among the highest globally, this creates significant, rising financial pressure. For companies like supermarkets, cooling is essential to operations. There is little flexibility to reduce demand without impacting performance, which now means that efficiency is the primary lever for controlling costs.
As temperatures rise, this cost burden is increasing further. More frequent, intense heatwaves drive higher cooling demand, pushing up electricity consumption as energy prices remain volatile. For many organisations, this creates a compounding cost effect —> hotter conditions lead to greater energy use —> which in turn increases both operating expenses and the broader emissions driving climate change.
Companies are stuck in a reinforcing cycle. Rising temperatures increase cooling demand and costs, while higher energy use contributes to further warming, intensifying financial pressure over time.
Temperate Technology Breaks the Cycle
Temperate uses passive radiative cooling, a process that captures heat, converts it into light, and radiates it into a cold vacuum of space.
Unlike conventional air conditioning systems, the technology:
- requires no chemical refrigerants,
- operates with dramatically lower energy demand,
- and can be manufactured and deployed at a significantly lower cost.
The company estimates its system can be up to 20 times more energy efficient than standard air conditioning technologies, which offers a scalable alternative for a rapidly warming world.
Commercial Applications Already Underway
Alongside homes, Temperate is also addressing a major challenge in industrial refrigeration, especially in supermarkets and other commercial systems.
Its passive radiative cooling layer helps lower refrigerant temperatures before they reach the expansion valve. This improves efficiency without needing to replace existing equipment or interrupt how the system works.
As it’s passive, customers can start seeing energy savings straight away, along with lower running costs and reduced environmental impact.
The new funding will support further development of Temperate’s hardware, wider commercial applications, and expansion into sectors where more efficient cooling is increasingly important for cost, climate, and public health.
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For more information, contact Min Dhillon at perminder@carbonthirteen.com.