Image Courtesy of Magnotherm.
Solid-State Cooling Works. Meet the Founders Who Want to Bring it to Market.
Insights from two solid-state cooling technology entrepreneurs about their journey and what’s next for this groundbreaking cooling tech.
A warmer world demands more cooling, but with EVs, data centers, and industry set to increase electricity demand, any cooling technology must begin with efficiency top of mind. Enter solid-state cooling — a revolutionary class of technologies with the promise to transform air conditioning and refrigeration for the 21st century.
We spoke with two solid-state cooling startup founders, Berardo Matalucci of MIMiC Systems and Timur Sirman of Magnotherm, to learn more about their personal journeys and what’s next for this groundbreaking cooling tech. Both companies are part of RMI’s startup accelerator program, Third Derivative. With 268 portfolio companies and counting, it finds, funds, and scales climate tech globally.
To learn more about solid-state cooling, read parts 1 and 2 in this series:
Name: Berardo Matalucci, Co-Founder and CEO
Company: MIMiC Systems, a thermoelectric solid-state startup
Inspiration for MIMiC
Berardo Matalucci established his career around sustainability and technologies in the built environment, first in Italy and then in the United States.
“Back in the day, even when I was in Italy, I looked at environmental design as not only about designing beautiful buildings but also creating a memorable experience. When I moved to the US, I noticed that heating and cooling was mostly relegated to the engineering aspect — a certain capacity, a certain amount of brute force, a certain type of air conditioning unit, and so on. As a consequence, I noticed something unusual: people were wearing clothes in reverse — short sleeves in the winter and long sleeves in summer!”
This led him to pursue a PhD in next-generation heating and cooling technologies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where the idea for MIMiC began to take root. After graduating, he became the director of environmental design at SHoP Architects and worked on high-profile projects like Uber’s Mission Bay Headquarters. But he still felt the pull to build something new. “This is the time for us to innovate in the space of heating and cooling.”
Efficiency through electrons
Today, most HVAC systems rely on oversized compressors or boilers, often located on a rooftop or in a basement, to deliver cooling across different spaces — which comes with major inefficiencies. MIMiC flips this approach. Relying on electrons, or using a thermoelectric solid-state approach, they modulate heating or cooling at the end point, such as in an office, bedroom, or other living area.
“With a solid-state system, you can control comfort, space by space, by providing the right amount of heating or cooling. We use certain types of semiconductors that are able to generate a thermal gradient when you apply electrical power without the need for moving parts or refrigerants.”
Solving the pain points: A timely solution
“One thing that our product cuts down on is labor costs. Property owners of large building portfolios typically struggle with the maintenance of old heating and cooling equipment. This is a driving force in the US for innovation.”
Environmental and regulatory factors are also driving this shift. “In Europe, in the US, and elsewhere, there is a growing attention towards refrigerants. In fact, dealing with refrigerants requires following procedures to discharge contents from compressors and HVAC systems — and that is not just expensive, but it’s also detrimental from a health and safety perspective.”
Traditional refrigerants are nearing the end of their life, so many states like California, New York, and Massachusetts, and beyond the United States in Europe and China, are looking at alternatives. This momentum is opening doors for innovators like MIMiC.
Challenges to adoption
Still, this path hasn’t come without hurdles: “We are dealing with an industry that typically can be slow to adopt and implement new innovations. So, the implementation cycles sometimes tend to be slightly longer than other industries, and that is not as immediately attractive for investors.”
And for the mainstream residential market, pricing is key: “Single-family homes, mom and pops, are really sensitive to the price point. They often neglect the impact of maintenance, or wait until they have to pay a lot of money down the road. So, to innovate at scale, it’s important that we develop a technology solution that can meet the expectations of the market.”
Partnerships: Third Derivative and RMI
“Third Derivative gave us the opportunity to be connected to a broad network, including RMI’s Advanced Building Construction (ABC) Collaborative, which provided access to peers who share the same problems that I have.”
“Having the support of Third Derivative was something that investors see as strong validation and credibility of our team and technology. One of our investors came directly from connecting through Third Derivative.”
A Vision for the Future
Looking ahead, Berardo sees MIMiC not just as a singular hardware company, but as technological support for the entire industry. “I would like to see MIMiC operating like NVIDIA, Intel, or Dolby for their equivalent spaces, working with big OEMs [Original Equipment Manufacturers] to help them accelerate the adoption of new technologies.”
“Vapor compression systems are an amazing concept, but there is so much diversity and variety when you look at the technology value chain. I think that if OEMs embrace the fact that they can diversify their technology portfolio, they will be able to develop and deploy technology solutions that are absolutely superior.”
Name: Timur Sirman, Co-Founder and CEO
Company: Magnotherm, a magnetocaloric solid-state cooling startup
Inspiration for Magnotherm
Following in his father’s footsteps, Timur Sirman wanted to make a positive impact through mechanical engineering. First focused on medical technologies, he quickly realized that launching a company in such a heavily regulated space was difficult. So Max, a friend of his brother — now Magnotherm’s co-founder — led him to cooling and refrigeration.
“Cooling is one of the big contributors to global warming, but it’s also just such a big and important industry for modern life. That really got me excited to learn more, and we started to think about what is needed to take this technology out of the lab and bring it to actual customers.”
The magic of magnets
Magnotherm’s technology, as the name suggests, uses magnets to move heat. Mainly focusing on the commercial refrigeration space, they’re targeting a premium segment that ranges from supermarkets to hotels, and gastronomy in general — along with several other smaller applications for electronics cooling.
“Normally, cooling systems work with a gas. You compress it, it gets hot; you expand it, it gets cold. We are doing a very similar thing, not with a gas, but with a special metal that gets hot and cold when you magnetize and demagnetize it … when you use magnets, it always feels like magic. Everyone is really excited about how different the technology is.”
Another element of magic? The lack of hazardous refrigerants. After extensive research on gases used for refrigeration, the Magnotherm team unlocked this major benefit of solid-state cooling.
“We take away all the refrigerants — so, zero global warming potential, zero ozone depletion factor, and no flammability and toxicity. At the same time, we build an energy-efficient system that reduces the operating costs.”
Breaking through the skepticism
“We are actually not the first ones who are trying to commercialize magnetic cooling; others have tried and failed. So that’s why, when you talk to experts in the industry, you can come across some skepticism.”
The key has been to demonstrate a product — a beverage cooler — that customers can actually use. “This has taken away most of the skepticism, but there’s still a lot of educational work for us to do. With magnetic cooling, a lot of people don’t know how it works and what the differences are, because it’s very different from conventional technologies.”
Solving technical and commercial problems, without a guide.
“It’s a complex technology. You need to understand magnetism, but also magnetocaloric materials — our solid-state refrigerant. You cannot just buy them, and you need to bring this material to production readiness. We also need to understand motors very well, pumps to move the heat, valves, and electronics. So it takes some time to figure out how to build a very efficient and low-maintenance system.”
Another consideration is the openness of the market to new technologies, which goes hand in hand with cost. Gas-compression systems have been optimized for over a century, so being competitive and meeting their low cost is a challenge.
The importance of materials science
Still, the team is confident. One of their early breakthroughs was turning a low-cost magnetic material into something production-ready and durable. “Using our background in materials science, we have a process on how to take cheap magnetic materials, stabilize them, make them corrosion resistant — and bring them to production readiness.”
In the future, Timur sees Magnotherm building on its strength in materials science. “Our vision is that we make this technology available for millions and ideally billions of people, not by building each cooling machine, but by providing one core component of the technology, which we will also provide with the material itself. This is how we want to positively influence as many people as possible.”
Partnerships: Third Derivative and RMI
Timur says credibility and education are crucial to gaining traction. “Education and awareness help people trust the technology and trust us as partners. And the support from Third Derivative helps — both with the network and reputation.”
“We are not quite there yet, but we are soon planning to fundraise. So this will also help us to get the necessary capital into the company to take the next steps.”
From science to entrepreneurship
For Timur, the leap from scientist to entrepreneur isn’t just exciting, it’s necessary.
“There’s so much potential in scientific work that’s being done that we are not utilizing yet. I truly believe that we can build a better future with better technologies, and we need to find better ways to commercialize those scientific breakthroughs and make them marketable.”
His message to fellow scientists? Consider taking the leap. “To everyone who is in the science space, the entrepreneurial journey is also quite an interesting educational journey. So, I want to encourage scientists to maybe start a company on what they’re working on.”
And as for solid-state cooling, it’s arrived. “It’s not a fantasy or future potential thing. Come to our facility in Germany and you can have cool drinks courtesy of our technology! It works, and now is the time to shape the future.”
The authors wish to thank Blue Haven Initiative for funding RMI’s work on this topic.
