Strataphy raises $6 million to cool the AI infrastructure revolution

Strataphy, a deep-tech company aiming to transform how AI and industrial infrastructure are cooled, has secured $6 million in seed funding in a round led by Outliers VC and Shorooq, with participation from PlusVC (+VC).

The capital injection will support the company’s efforts to advance its technology, grow its full-service stack, and expand its engineering and operations teams. The push comes as Strataphy prepares for new deployments across giga-projects, industrial facilities, and hyperscale data centres in the MENA region and internationally.

Cooling has emerged as one of the biggest constraints on hyperscale expansion and industrial development, especially in hot-climate regions where it already accounts for nearly 50% of total electricity consumption across sectors. The challenge is particularly stark in the Middle East, which represents one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing cooling markets – valued at more than $120 billion annually, including $13 billion in Saudi Arabia alone.

Strataphy’s solution is built around its proprietary PrimeLoop™ subsurface technology, which taps deep, stable thermal energy to cool infrastructure while using far less power than conventional systems. The platform enables industrial and commercial facilities, including data centres, to reduce energy intensity, cut operational costs, and meet rising cooling demands.

Speaking on the fundraise announcement, Dr Ammar Alali, co-founder and CEO of Strataphy, said, “AI and industrial infrastructure are scaling faster than the systems that keep them cool and efficient. In AI hardware, cooling has quietly outpaced semiconductors, servers, and even data centers as the largest driver of net-new hardware spending since 2022. Our mission is to build the backbone for next-generation cooling, scalable, reliable, and cost-efficient. This investment will accelerate our technology, expand our team, and enable us to meet the surging demand across the region and beyond.”

Dr Ammar Alali, who holds a PhD in Earth Sciences and Energy Systems from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), co-founded Strataphy with Ahmed Alhani. The two have worked together for more than 15 years at Saudi Aramco and other ventures, leading projects in subsurface exploration, geothermal systems, and energy optimisation. This shared expertise underpins PrimeLoop, the company’s subsurface cooling technology tailored for high-temperature regions and designed to overcome the limitations of geothermal systems originally developed for heating in colder climates.

The company’s clients and partners include NEOM, King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Tabreed, Enersol, ADNOC Drilling, and Alpha Dhabi Holdings, among others. These engagements reflect surging demand for scalable and efficient cooling solutions in high-temperature environments. Through its Cooling-as-a-Service model, Strataphy is shifting geothermal cooling from a capital-intensive purchase to a predictable operating expense, enabling organisations to adopt advanced systems with minimal upfront costs while reducing energy usage and improving reliability.

Strataphy has already demonstrated PrimeLoop in commercial settings, documenting electricity cost reductions of up to 49% compared with conventional cooling systems—evidence, the company says, of its capacity to deliver efficient, reliable, and scalable cooling in some of the world’s hottest locations.

Mohammed Almeshekah, Founder and General Partner at Outliers VC, shared, “Cooling remains one of the most overlooked opportunities in the region’s broader infrastructure transformation. As demand accelerates and AI adds further pressure, efficient and scalable cooling is becoming essential for sustained growth. Strataphy’s subsurface powered approach delivers a step change in reliability and energy use. We are backing the team because they are rethinking the infrastructure that will shape the region’s next decade of progress.”

Shane Shin, Founding Partner at Shorooq, concluded, “Cooling infrastructure is the hidden backbone of the AI and industrial revolution. What Strataphy is building isn’t just a better system, it’s a fundamental rethinking of how energy, environment, and infrastructure intersect in hot-climate economies. Their ability to turn subsurface cooling into a scalable service unlocks an entirely new layer of sustainability and performance for the region. We’re backing Strataphy because they’re not just solving for heat, they’re enabling the infrastructure that will power the next decade of innovation.”