Top 22 Energy-efficient data center startups

Updated: Feb 28, 2026
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These startups develop energy-efficient cooling systems, energy storage and energy-saving technologies for data-centers.
1
Ceres Power
Country: UK | Funding: $307.3M
Ceres Power develops solid oxide electrolysis cell and solid oxide fuel cell technologies for use in distributed energy systems for factories, data centers and electric vehicle charging stations. The company manufactures the entire stack - from cells (that it provides to OEM partners) to complete power systems that work on natural gas. These systems can produce up to 500 kW of power, with electrical efficiency up to 65%. According to the company, they also deliver 25% lower CO2 emissions than open-loop gas turbines and virtually zero NOx and SOx emissions. The systems are factory-transportable, withstand vibration and shock loads and are suitable for both indoor and outdoor installations.
2
Heron Power
Country: USA | Funding: $178M
Heron Power develops industrial power electronics specifically designed for modern power systems. Its Heron Link products are integrated solutions based on solid-state transformers and SuperBBUs for powering AI data centers and hyperscale systems, solar power plants and energy storage. These modular systems provide AC-to-DC conversion, stabilizing pulsation and providing overload tolerance, eliminating the need for legacy equipment (low-voltage transformers, MSBs, UPSs, PDUs, RPPs, and power supplies). The result: smaller footprint, higher efficiency, scalable, rack-ready architectures and reduced total cost of ownership with superior uptime.
3
Bloom Energy
Country: USA | Funding: $4.8B
Bloom Energy creates fuel-cell systems for local power generation that can utilize a wide range of resources to generate electricity. Bloom Energy Server can use natural gas, biogas and hydrogen as fuel without combustion and is scalable to tens of megawatts. Installation and commissioning of the server can be completed in as little as three months. These servers are often used to power enterprise buildings and data centers. The company has developed proprietary solid oxide fuel cell technology that ensures low CO2 emissions. Bloom Energy also has its own hydrogen production facility at the world's largest solid oxide electrolyzer plant at NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View. The company syas, that this high-temperature plant produces 20-25% more hydrogen per MW than commercially demonstrated low-temperature electrolyzers.
4
Boom Supersonic
Country: USA | Funding: $732.5M
Boom Supersonic manufactures supersonic passenger jets and turbines for ground-based power plants. The company's core technology is the turbofan engine, originally designed for supersonic flight. The XB-1 demonstrator aircraft, powered by this engine, became the first civilian aircraft to break the sound barrier. It also served as the basis for the Superpower stationary 42-MW power plant. Boom supplies these turbines with generators, control systems and performs preventive maintenance. The turbines achieve 39% efficiency, which is comparable to competitors. However, Boom is also developing a "field upgrade" to convert its turbines from a simple cycle to a combined cycle, which can recover heat from exhaust gases to increase efficiency above 60%. A key advantage is that Superpower turbogenerators are shipped in a compact shipping container. The company has a contract with Crusoe, an AI infrastructure leader, to supply 29 turbines for AI data centers.
5
FuelCell Energy
Country: USA | Funding: $468.8M
FuelCell Energy designs, manufactures, installs and operates fuel cell power systems. Its systems generate up to 2,500 kW and use natural gas or biogas as fuel. They can also operate on mixtures of natural gas and hydrogen with up to 50% hydrogen. The system's heat can be used to generate hot water, high-pressure steam or chilled water, increasing overall efficiency. The system's low emissions allow to get permission faster. The company's power systems are popular among data centers, industrial facilities, hospitals, hydrogen refueling stations, universities, utilities and wastewater treatment plants.
6
Oklo
Country: USA | Funding: $440.6M
Oklo is building a container-sized, continuously operating, carbon-free and emissions-free fission nuclear reactor Aurora. It uses liquid metal coolant and metallic fuel, generates up to 75 MW, features built-in safety and can run on reprocessed waste. The reactor is self-stabilizing, self-regulating and cooled by natural forces. This means the plant is safe for personnel and the technology that enables this has been demonstrated at scale. Oklo also reprocesses nuclear fuel. The company has three project sites and the broadest regulatory support of any modern nuclear power system in the United States. OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman is the primary investor and even served as an early Oklo CEO.
7
Deep Green
Country: UK | Funding: £200M
Deep Green has developed a “digital boiler” technology to use the heat produced by data centers for swimming pools, apartment blocks, distilleries, laundrettes, and bakeries.
8
Fermi
Country: USA | Funding: $200M
Fermi America builds energy and AI infrastructure to power next-gen data centers using nuclear, gas, solar, and grid-based solutions.
9
Ocient
Country: USA | Funding: $156.5M
Ocient is offering energy-efficient solutions for costly and unwieldy operational data and AI workloads
10
Valar Atomics
Country: USA | Funding: $149M
Valar Atomics develops small modular nuclear reactors (SMNRs) using proven high-temperature gas reactor (HTGR) technology combined with safe TRISO fuel. HTGRs are optimized to produce high-quality process heat which is used for industrial and chemical applications, providing nearby partners with affordable, abundant and clean energy. Using TRISO-coated fuel particles and helium coolant, the HTGRs passively remove decay heat without active systems or operator intervention. This design minimizes the risk of core damage even in severe accident scenarios. The company plans to mass-produce the reactors and deploy them at so-called gigasites, where they will power AI data centers, industrial facilities, and other customers.
11
Exowatt
Country: USA | Funding: $90M
Exowatt has developed P3 technology, which combines solar and battery power to provide data centers with reliable 24/7 power. The company manufactures container-sized modular units equipped with solar lenses. These lenses convert solar energy into heat, which is used to heat affordable materials. The heat can be stored for up to 24 hours and then is converted into electricity by an engine located inside the modules. The company also has a division specializing in providing land and energy infrastructure to support large-scale or hyperscale data centers. The startup is backed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and is implementing projects in high-solar areas of the southwestern United States, such as New Mexico, West Texas, Arizona, and Nevada.
12
Iceotope
Country: UK | Funding: $73.3M
Engineered to cool the whole IT stack, in every use case, from Hyperscale to the Extreme Edge
13
MangoBoost
Country: USA | Funding: $65.8M
MangoBoost is an DPU and AI infrastructure firm that specializes in developing advanced server accelerators with complete software stacks.
14
Qarnot
Country: France | Funding: €48M
Qarnot designs and develops Q.rad, a computing heater embedding microprocessors as a heat source and connected to the Internet.
15
Unblock
Country: Cayman Islands | Funding: $22.2M
Unblock is a climate technology company that offers a solution to mitigate emissions.
16
Vaire Computing
Country: UK | Funding: $10M
Vaire is an unconventional computation company that offers technology services.
17
Claros
Country: USA | Funding: $9.75M
Claros is a power management platform that utilizes cutting-edge hardware, software to enhance energy distribution & usage at data centers.
18
Asperitas
Country: Netherlands | Funding: $81.9K
Asperitas creates unique liquid cooling solution for data centers. By adding integration of power and network components, improving cooling physics with a strong focus on design and engineering for usability, Asperitas has come up with a complete and integrated solution which can be effectively utilised in most, if not all situations.
19
Infinidium
Country: Canada | Funding: $100K
Infinidium is developing the world’s most efficient Datacenter infrastructure while providing inexpensive High Performance Computing services on the Cloud with lowest environmental impact available in a rapidly growing marketplace
20
Gemini Energy
Country: USA
Gemini has developed a fuel cell technology that can generate power on-site, converting gas into electricity without combustion. The company is marketing its clean tech power generator at data centers and says its systems can be deployed in months versus the years needed to upgrade a conventional power grid.
21
Chainergy
Country: UK
Chainergy enables sustainably powered modular AI data centers
22
Magma Power
Country: USA
MagmaPower's mission is to safely harness the high-density energy within the Earth to provide clean, renewable and affordable baseload electricity.
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Alexander Gillet
Editor: Alexander Gillet
Alexander Gillet is a senior editor for EnergyStartups. He has a deep background in energy sector and startups. Alexander graduated from Emlyon Business School, a leading French business school specialized in entrepreneurship. He has helped several non-profit organizations dedicated to promoting environmental education and sustainability and has written over 250 articles on energy technology for various websites. In his free time, Alexander enjoys yoga, camping and exploring the Blue Ridge Mountains. You can contact Alexander at alexgillet(at)energystartups(dot)com