Swiss semiconductor startup Corintis has raised $24 million in Series A funding to scale its microfluidic cooling systems — a breakthrough solution for the escalating heat challenges posed by next-gen AI chips.
The round was led by BlueYard Capital, and comes on the heels of Corintis’ collaboration with Microsoft, which recently tested the startup’s cooling technology in its new chip servers. The startup says its system is up to 10 times more efficient than conventional cold plate methods, and has already shipped over 10,000 units to early customers.
Cooling Reimagined as a Core Design Feature
“Cooling can’t be an afterthought anymore,” said Remco van Erp, Corintis’ co-founder and CEO. “We’re making it a design principle.”
Instead of using bulky copper blocks or heat sinks, Corintis embeds precision-designed microchannels directly into the chip package, directing coolant exactly where it’s needed most — often in areas no bigger than a few millimeters. This approach not only improves cooling performance but allows denser chip layouts and greater power efficiency, crucial for data centers running advanced AI workloads.
The company’s flagship software platform, Glacierware, enables chip designers to simulate and optimize cooling performance early in the development cycle. Another solution, Therminator, offers hardware integration tools for major chipmakers.
Microsoft Collaboration and Market Momentum
Corintis’ microfluidic cooling was recently showcased by Microsoft, which said the system can cool AI servers three times more effectively than conventional approaches. That makes it one of the few startups with a real-world, production-scale validation for thermal tech.
The company has already achieved eight-digit revenue since launching in 2022 and plans to expand its headcount from 55 to 70 by year-end. Its 2026 target: produce over one million cold plates annually.
Joining the company’s board is Lip-Bu Tan, influential tech investor and former CEO of Cadence, as well as chairman of Walden International. He emphasized Corintis’ potential to “solve one of the most pressing bottlenecks in chip design.”
Addressing a Growing Bottleneck in AI
With the AI hardware race accelerating, from Nvidia’s H100 to custom silicon from hyperscalers, thermal limits are becoming a critical constraint. Corintis positions itself as a key enabler of next-gen compute infrastructure, particularly as data centers adopt more power-dense AI systems.
The company sees demand coming not only from cloud hyperscalers, but also from edge computing use cases where space and energy constraints make efficient cooling even more vital.
As Corintis ramps up its manufacturing and global partnerships, it could play a defining role in shaping the next phase of AI chip innovation — one where cooling isn’t a workaround, but a competitive advantage.
