Pascal Raises $8.5 Million for 20% More Efficient Solid State Cooling

Summary

Pascal, co-founded by CEO Adam Slavney and CTO Jinyoung Seo, raised an $8.5 million follow-on to its seed round, co-led by Sazze Partners and LB Investment, with KDB Silicon Valley participating. An earlier than expected pilot contract with an unnamed multinational beverage company helped trigger the financing. Pascal says refrigerators and heat pumps using its material could be about 20% more efficient than current models. Its first prototype is due in early 2027, followed by more polished refrigerators in 2028.

The technology emerged from Harvard University experiments aimed at updating cooling systems whose basic design dates back roughly 170 years. Switching gases during high-pressure testing produced unexpected measurements. The researchers suspected the cause within about three months and obtained definitive proof in one to two years. Pascal compresses carbon dioxide into cartridges containing a proprietary sponge-like material. Gas molecules striking pore walls warm the material, a heat exchanger releases that energy, and reversing the process absorbs heat. Two cartridges alternate between collecting heat inside a refrigerator and releasing it outside.

Pascal says the material survived 300,000 cycles, equivalent to about one operating year, and transfers heat more effectively than other solid-state refrigerants. That permits conventional equipment and avoids the high pressures some alternatives require, potentially lowering cost. Solid-state cooling also addresses 35 to 40 years of refrigerant trade-offs, from ozone-damaging Freon to R-134a, an extremely potent greenhouse gas.