As governments tighten environmental regulations around refrigerants and energy efficiency, the global cooling industry is approaching a major technological turning point. Traditional compressor based refrigeration systems remain dominant across air conditioning, industrial cooling, and electronics infrastructure, but they are increasingly facing pressure from stricter climate policies, rising energy demands, and the need for more sustainable alternatives. German climate technology startup Qurie is developing a new approach to cooling based on electrocaloric materials, and investors are backing the company with fresh funding.
Qurie has raised €2.2 million from High Tech Gründerfonds, Technology Transfer Fund TT49, and Aepikur GmbH.
The company says the funding will support continued technology development as it prepares to commercialise a new category of solid state cooling systems.
Rethinking Refrigeration Technology
Founded in 2026 by Dr Christian Vogel and Dr Kilian Bartholomé, Qurie emerged as a spin off from the Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Measurement Techniques IPM.
The startup focuses on refrigeration systems powered by electrocaloric materials, specialised materials that change temperature when electric fields are applied or removed.
Unlike conventional compressor based cooling systems that rely on refrigerant gases and moving mechanical components, Qurie’s architecture uses electrocaloric effects inside stacked material structures to generate cooling through solid state processes.
At the centre of the company’s platform is a patented active electrocaloric heat pipe technology developed at Fraunhofer IPM over more than ten years of research and engineering.
Addressing Pressure on the HVAC Industry
The heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration industry is currently facing growing regulatory pressure as the European Union phases out conventional refrigerants under its F Gas Regulation framework.
Many traditional cooling systems rely on refrigerants with significant greenhouse gas impact, creating demand for alternative technologies capable of reducing emissions while maintaining economic viability and energy efficiency.
Although several alternative cooling technologies have emerged over the years, many have struggled to achieve operating costs competitive with conventional compressor systems.
Qurie believes its electrocaloric platform can overcome those limitations by improving efficiency while reducing system complexity and environmental impact.
Solid State Cooling With Fewer Mechanical Components
According to Dr Kilian Bartholomé, the company’s active heat pipe technology enables more efficient heat transfer and faster pumping frequencies than many conventional liquid based systems.
This, he explained, helps make the platform commercially competitive while supporting higher performance and lower energy consumption.
Qurie says its systems are designed to achieve higher theoretical efficiency than traditional refrigeration technologies while enabling smaller and more flexible cooling architectures.
The company believes these characteristics could make the technology suitable for applications including industrial enclosure cooling, electronics cooling, medical devices, automotive systems, and building infrastructure.
Initial Focus on Industrial Cooling
Dr Christian Vogel said the HVAC industry is currently undergoing a major transformation driven by regulatory, economic, and technological changes.
According to Vogel, Qurie has now reached a stage where the company can demonstrate not only that its cooling technology functions technically but also that it can become economically viable in real world industrial settings.
The startup plans to initially target industrial enclosure cooling markets before gradually expanding into commercial refrigeration, medical technology, automotive applications, and electronics cooling.
Supporting Further Development
Alongside the newly secured investment, Qurie will also benefit from an additional research programme funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, which will support development activities through the end of 2026.
As industries increasingly search for sustainable alternatives to conventional cooling systems, solid state technologies capable of reducing refrigerant use and improving energy efficiency are attracting growing interest across climate technology and industrial infrastructure markets.
By combining advanced materials science with solid state engineering, Qurie is positioning itself as part of a new generation of companies attempting to redefine the future of cooling technology.
