Planet First Partners backs cooling tank technology that reduces data centre climate impact

by Startacus Admin

 

Submer secures investment to support expansion and growth of its innovative energy and water saving technology.

It’s a great start to the year for pioneering growth stage company Submer, with the news that sustainable investor Planet First Partners (“Planet First”) has become a significant investor in the company. 

Submer is an innovative company which has developed a patented immersion cooling technology as an alternative to the air-based cooling systems which are currently the dominant solution for data centres around the world. 

Energy consumption by data centres has become an urgent issue. Globally, data centres are projected to consume 10% of electricity and be responsible for 2.75% of greenhouse emissions by 2025, placing them above the airline industry in terms of their carbon footprint. 

With data centres growing at projected annual rates of 2-6% and energy efficiency gains plateauing since 2018, urgent solutions are needed to mitigate this growing energy footprint - solutions such as the one created by Submer.

Submer’s technology works by cooling data centre server units in modular tanks filled with a biodegradable electrically non-conductive liquid which absorbs the heat and dissipates it through heat exchangers for efficient reuse in commercial and industrial settings. The technology eliminates the use of refrigerant gas and uses 50% less energy, 99% less water and 85% less real estate than traditional cooling methods.

In addition to being better for the planet, Submer’s cooling system also delivers significant cost savings for data centre owners and future proofs them against evolving regulation on emissions, growing processing power, and hardware density requirements.    

Planet First is the lead investor in the latest USD34m funding round and will be joining Submer’s existing shareholders including Norrsken VC, Alma Mundi Ventures and Tim Reynolds. The funding will accelerate Submer’s international expansion into the North America and APAC regions and fund R&D initiatives around next generation liquid coolants and data centre automation.  

 Daniel Pope, CEO and Co-founder of Submer and Pol Valls, COO and Co-founder at Submer said: “Our mission at Submer has always been to offer best-in-class solutions to the data centre industry to help turn their impact on the environment into a positive. The time is now for the industry to make the necessary steps to reduce its environmental impact and ensure it can compete in a market where society and customers expect net-zero or even net-positive services”. 

Frédéric de Mévius, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Planet First Partners added: “The partnership with Submer lies in the sweet spot of our investment mandate: the intersection of strong sustainability credentials with innovative technology and consumer preferences. We believe that Submer’s immersion cooling pods will play a key role in making data centres sustainable, assuring the future growth of the data-enabled economy.”

Exciting times ahead for this hugely important innovative business.

 

 

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Published on: 18th January 2022