en.Wedoany.com Reported - Gyre Energy has secured over $1.3 million in investment and grants to deploy its cold chain cooling technology in larger-scale customer projects.
The Oxford-based cooling technology company stated that the funds have been invested in a large-scale cold chain site project, in collaboration with a global logistics operator responsible for the transport and storage of temperature-sensitive goods. The project focuses on a cold room within a 140,000-square-foot cold chain facility, with performance to be evaluated against an IPMVP (International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol) baseline, a common framework for measuring energy savings.
Gyre Energy explained that its system uses artificial intelligence to analyze site behavior, predict cooling demand, and adjust operations to reduce power consumption while maintaining temperature stability. The platform also integrates thermal energy storage technology, enabling cooling activities to be shifted to periods of lower electricity prices and releasing stored cooling capacity during peak pricing hours. The client's name has not been disclosed; Gyre stated that this deployment represents the company's largest collaboration to date and its first project with a global logistics operator.
As cooling loads in logistics, construction, and digital infrastructure continue to rise, Gyre Energy is entering the market. Rising temperatures are straining cold chains and power grids, while operators face increasing energy costs from refrigeration and air conditioning systems. The International Energy Agency has warned that cooling demand is straining global power grids and predicts that global electricity demand growth in the latter half of this decade will be about 50% faster than in the previous decade, driven primarily by HVAC systems, data centers, and electrification. For operators of cold storage warehouses and food logistics sites, electricity bills are often among the largest operating costs, and cooling equipment is difficult to upgrade quickly, leading to growing interest in software and storage systems that can improve performance without replacing entire units.
Gyre stated that its technology has demonstrated commercial results in a chilled and frozen distribution operation with a nationwide warehouse network in the UK. A previously announced deployment case in a 2,900-square-foot frozen and chilled storage site showed a 38% reduction in electricity bills, a 35% reduction in daily energy consumption, and a payback period of less than 1.5 years. This latest project marks a scale-up, moving from a smaller warehouse environment to a cold room within a 140,000-square-foot facility, providing the company with validation opportunities at more complex sites where refrigeration demand, asset utilization, and energy costs may fluctuate more significantly throughout the day.
The pre-seed funding round was led by Speedinvest, with participation from Rule 30 and Plug and Play. Gyre stated that the combination of equity financing and grants will support its commercial growth, targeting large-scale sites in cold storage, food logistics, and industrial cooling. The company was co-founded by CEO Dougald Coulson, CTO Michael McKenna, and COO Tom Gibson, all of whom hold MBAs from the University of Oxford, with backgrounds in machine learning, energy systems, and energy technology commercialization. Gyre noted that its systems have been deployed in the UK, Africa, and the Caribbean, and are expanding into the Middle East, Asia-Pacific, and Europe. The company also sees potential for applying its technology in data centers.
Dougald Coulson, co-founder and CEO of Gyre Energy, stated that cooling already accounts for about one-fifth of global electricity demand and is growing rapidly, with energy being one of the largest costs for operators and cooling being the hardest part to control. He noted that the same infrastructure historically seen as a cost line can be transformed into an energy asset, a perspective that resonates with customers. Speedinvest investor Alex Davis commented that Gyre is addressing the overlooked issue of cooling in the energy transition, with its AI application delivering tangible results in reducing energy consumption and improving supply chain resilience. The company has executed well in the 12 months since investment, progressing from its first commercial deployment to collaborating with one of the world's most complex cold chain operators.
