Fluix Inc. co-founder and CEO Abhishek Sastri believes the solution that will make data centers more efficient on Earth will be found in outer space.
That’s why Orlando-based liquid cooling technology startup Fluix is pivoting to a new focus: the development of a new coolant in microgravity. It’s a bold plan, but the company recently got some recognition for its plans from Jeff Bezos’ rocket company Blue Origin LLC.
Fluix on Dec. 8 was named a winner of the inaugural Reef Starter Innovation Challenge, a contest that recognizes early-stage companies developing innovative in-space solutions that can use Blue Origin’s planned space station called Orbital Reef. Not only does Fluix win $25,000, but it gets to have preliminary conversations with Blue Origin about working together to advance its solution, Sastri told Orlando Inno.
Sastri, a 2021 Orlando Inno Under 25 honoree, founded Fluix in 2018 as a maker of liquid-cooling blocks for gaming PC’s and engineering workstations. Next, Fluix aims to develop nano-suspension cooling tech for the world’s data centers, which consume massive amounts of energy keeping cool (2% of all electricity use in the U.S. to be exact, according to the U.S. Department of Energy).
“Our goal is to make data centers so efficient they can be powered by renewable energy,” Sastri said.
To develop a new coolant, Fluix looks to space. New materials often are researched and developed in space, such as aboard the International Space Station, because materials behave differently in low gravity.
In addition to the Blue Origin competition win, Fluix was one of three companies selected to pitch at TechCrunch’s TC Sessions: Space event in Los Angeles on Dec. 6. Sastri pitched in front of 400 people that included aerospace venture investors, military personnel and launch company executives, he said. “What it does is help cement us with a basis of credibility.”
That’s important for Fluix, which is working to raise capital. The raise is to build a 12-month runway for Fluix to develop a chemical chain for its coolant, prepare a payload to send into microgravity and get feedback from data centers.
Plus, Fluix will seek out new engineers to hire and lab space, preferably in Florida, Sastri said.
Meanwhile, the demand for data centers is growing. Global spending on cloud services grew from $129.5 billion in 2020 to $178 billion in 2021, according to a report by Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. That spending is projected to reach $200 billion by the end of the year.
The digital transformation sparked by the Covid-19 pandemic, along with the subsequent cryptocurrency boom, have heightened the industry’s focus on innovative cooling technologies, said Manny Vivar, founder and CEO of Orlando-based data center company HostDime.com Inc., which aims to open a 100,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art data center in Eatonville by the spring. “It’s a very relevant conversation I’m having with peers around the world.”
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