Swiss semiconductor cooling startup Corintis has raised $24 million in Series A funding to address the critical heat management challenges facing AI chips. The Lausanne-based company, which emerged from stealth mode, announced the funding round led by BlueYard Capital with participation from Founderful, Acequia Capital, Celsius Industries, and XTX Ventures. The investment brings Corintis' total funding to approximately $33.4 million and values the company at around $400 million.

The funding comes as artificial intelligence applications drive unprecedented power demands from chips manufactured by companies like Nvidia. Current AI chips consume significantly more power than earlier generations, with some new GPUs and AI accelerators requiring up to 10 times more power than the 400W chips used to train early versions of OpenAI's ChatGPT. This increased power consumption generates substantial heat that strains traditional air-cooling systems in data centers, potentially slowing chip performance and adding pressure to power grids.

Corintis' technology addresses this challenge by running liquid through microscopic channels etched directly onto chips, a method that company tests with Microsoft have shown to be up to three times more efficient than standard cooling approaches. Unlike conventional liquid cooling that only extracts heat from the chip surface, Corintis' system channels coolant inside the chip itself to target hot spots more effectively. The company uses software to automate the design of customized cooling systems adapted to each chip's unique architecture.

The startup, founded in 2021-2022 based on research from the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), is scaling up production capabilities to meet growing demand. Corintis currently manufactures approximately 100,000 cold plates annually at its European facilities and plans to increase production to around 1 million units next year. The company is expanding its operations with new US offices and an engineering facility in Munich, Germany, while adding Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan to its board as part of the recent funding round.