Nextreme Thermal raises $13M for chip cooling tech
Excessive heat on semiconductors and other electronics has led the tech industry to adopt a number of clever but indirect work-arounds, but Nextreme Thermal says it can directly cool off specific areas that overheat.
The Durman, N.C. company uses the Peltier Effect to cool down devices, which uses flowing electrons to achieve an effect somewhat similar to gas expanding. The movement of electricity from one part of a Nextreme-designed chip to another helps to dump excess heat.
The startup’s process also harvests waste heat to produce more electricity, which can improve efficiency. The technology has uses in semiconductors, opto- and bioelectronics, and other miniaturized devices.
Chart Venture Partners led the $13 million round. Also participating were Redshift Venture Partners, Harris & Harris Group, Itochu Corp., and In-Q-Tel, the CIA’s venture investing arm.
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About the Author, Chris Morrison
Chris Morrison writes about cleantech and environmental issues for VentureBeat, with occasional forays into gaming and semantic technology. He got his start writing about tech for Business 2.0 magazine, but quickly realized new media was the ticket when that institution closed its doors in 2007. Chris has also covered public equities and regulatory issues. He originally hails from southern Virginia, graduated from Evergreen State College in Washington, and now lives in San Francisco.