Transforming Cooling from the Ground Up
(As seen in Axios) At Pascal, we're on a mission to transform the cooling industry with our breakthrough technology that replaces traditional vapor compression systems with more efficient, environmentally friendly solid refrigerants. We're thrilled to announce our $8 million seed round led by The Engine, with participation from Khosla Ventures and Blindspot Ventures, to fund our scale up from our small solid refrigerant proof-of-concept to a large-scale commercial demonstration system.
Why This Matters
Refrigerants are essential to cooling systems worldwide, but traditional hydrofluorocarbon refrigerant gases rank among the most potent greenhouse gas contributors. Our solid refrigerant technology eliminates these harmful gases while potentially reducing cooling costs by up to 80%. This dual innovation represents a significant advancement in both sustainability and energy efficiency at a time when cooling demands are rapidly increasing globally.
How Our Technology Works
Conventional refrigeration uses compression to convert a refrigerant gas into a liquid. When this pressurized liquid is released it transforms back into a gas absorbing large amounts of heat in the process.
Solid refrigerants work in a similar way. Inside our solids are long molecules which can shift between a rigid and a flexible configuration—like stiff dry pasta transforming into flexible noodles when cooked. By applying and releasing pressure on the solid we can trigger this change to a stiff state and back again releasing and absorbing large amounts of heat and creating a temperature difference in the process. Because this process involves no refrigerant gases there is no chance of release to the atmosphere and the potential to build far more efficient refrigeration systems.
Reimagining a Decades-Old Concept
The concept of pressure-driven solid refrigerants dates back to the early 2000s, but the need for pressures over 1000 bar presented substantial engineering and cost barriers. Pascal’s research breakthrough lies in developing new materials and methods of pressurization to reduce the pressure by more than two orders of magnitude to below 10 bar. This new low-pressure regime, lower than many conventional vapor-compression systems in use today, allows us to use off-the-shelf parts directly out of the existing supply chain to build a cheap, reliable solid refrigerant system.
Our Path Forward
This new injection in funding will enable us to scale up from our existing proof-of-concept system to a large commercially relevant demonstration system. Construction of this demonstrator will require us to solve the key engineering challenge facing solid refrigerant systems: rapid extraction and transport of heat from the stationary refrigerant. We are eagerly taking on this challenge and anticipate completion of this demonstrator by mid 2025.
With this funding also comes new friends and supporters of Pascal. Michael Kearney, General Partner at The Engine, has joined our board and serves as a director alongside CEO Adam Slavney. Jessy Rivest, Partner at Khosla Ventures, joins as an observer alongside company founders Jinyoung Seo (Pascal’s CTO) and Prof. Jarad Mason. We also would like to thank Ahmed Hentati of Blindspot Ventures and Keely Anson of Collaborative Fund for their continued support and belief in Pascal’s future impact.
Cooling for the Next Generation
At Pascal, we're convinced that solid refrigerants represent the next generation of cooling technology. Our approach has the potential to fundamentally transform the industry, making cooling significantly more cost-effective and environmentally sustainable.
As global cooling demands increase with rising temperatures and expanding middle classes worldwide, the timing couldn't be better for a revolutionary approach to refrigeration.
Follow our journey on LinkedIn or contact us at contact@pascaltechnology.com to learn more about our progress and partnership opportunities.
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