Hi there,
This $6.5 billion sale might have flown under your radar.
Calgary’s CoolIT Systems started out making cooling systems for gaming computers. Now, they’ve been bought by water treatment giant Ecolab for more than six times what they sold for just three years ago.
This week we break down why better cooling systems matter for AI’s climate impact - and what CoolIT’s acquisition signals for founders building in the clean compute stack.
Elsewhere in climate tech:
Solugen lands $50M to scale organic fertilizers
E-Storage lands a 500MW deal to power data centres
What Canada’s latest energy outlook tells us about the future of climate action
P.s. Want to support our work? Forward or share the newsletter with someone in your network who’d find it useful.
CoolIT heats up with $6.5 billion sale to Ecolab
Source: CoolIT
What happened: Ecolab is acquiring Calgary's CoolIT Systems for $6.52 billion to expand its data centre offering.
Private equity firm KKR acquired the company in 2023 for US$270 million. Three years later, they’re selling at a 17x return, reflecting how quickly liquid cooling went from niche hardware to critical infrastructure.
The tech: CoolIT makes direct-to-chip liquid cooling systems for high performance computing. Coolant circulates through server racks and across cold plates mounted directly on CPUs and GPUs, pulling heat away far more efficiently than the conventional air cooling used by most data centres today.
The impact: better chip performance and lifespan with less water use and lower energy costs.
Why it matters: AI chips run hot - a typical GPU rack generates 10x more heat than traditional servers - and conventional air cooling systems can’t keep up. Water-based systems carry their own costs: a mid-size data centre can use ~110 million gallons per year for cooling.
Direct-to-chip and closed-loop liquid cooling systems can cut that freshwater use by up to 70%, making CoolIT’s solution a performance solution while using less water, energy and improving relationships with local communities.
📋 From our Clean Compute report: Canada's data centre pipeline now exceeds 9 GW. Liquid cooling is technically viable, but as we noted in Clean Compute, it's not standard yet - and water consumption at scale remains an open constraint.
In addition to relying on Canada’s colder climates, data centre operators are integrating closed-loop cooling, heat recovery and liquid cooling solutions into their procurement plans. The Ecolab deal suggests the market is moving to close that gap faster than expected.
What’s next: The deal is expected to close later this year and will expand Ecolab’s water management business into a full-stack cooling offering - from chip makers to data centre developers.
SPONSORED BY SPRING
Spring’s Invest Together in Climate Innovation is BACK! We're curating a Top 10 of Canada’s climate and cleantech ventures currently raising investment for their innovative solutions. We'll connect them with a cohort of accredited investors ready to deploy a $200K investment prize.
10 ventures will receive investment readiness training, legal support and key connections. The investors will then select the Top 5 to continue into due diligence and pitch in our live finale. One will be named our 2026 Top Venture and receive the $200K prize.
Founder deadline is April 6th and the investor cohort deadline is April 27th.
Solugen Global (Saint-Patrice-de-Beaurivage, QC) raised $50 million led by Idealist Capital and participation from Canada Growth Fund to scale production of its manure-based fertilizer that meets organic farming certification standards.
Max Power Mining (Saskatoon, SK) raised $20.5 million to validate the commercial potential for its natural hydrogen system in Saskatchewan.
E-Storage secured a 500MW battery storage deal with a US utility to support data centre power demands.
NEO Battery Materials signed an MOU with the Association of the Republic of Korea Army to develop high-energy batteries for military drones and robotics.
Taiga Motors added vehicle-to-grid and vehicle-to-load capabilities to its 2027 electric snowmobiles, enabling them to function as mobile power sources.
The Indigenous Power Coalition launched to position First Nations as project leads for major electricity transmission projects in Canada, not just rights-holders.
Electrifying Canada launched GridGuide, a planning tool that helps utilities and grid operators model electrification scenarios and infrastructure needs.
UBC and InBC launched a new $20 million fund to spin out university research focusing on life sciences and deep tech.
Canada’s energy outlook: Wind generation in Canada is projected to grow by almost 600% to 277 TWh by 2050 according to the Canada Energy Regulator’s latest projections. A doubling in electricity capacity will meet a 44% spike in power demand from electrification and data centre growth.
Interprovincial transmission is also expected to grow 70% to keep up
Meanwhile, natural gas production could grow by 10-60%
Oil projections are even wider, growing 18% or contracting 12% depending on the global picture
Why it matters: Turns out we can’t just wind power our way to net-zero. Despite the increase in clean power, the CER projects emissions reductions plateau around 2035. Low-carbon technologies need to be adopted across the economy in order to reach net-zero.
Climate financing KPIs: National Bank and CIBC committed to tracking their energy supply ratio - the ratio of fossil fuel to renewable energy financing - by next year. The climate KPI is intended to show how banks are contributing to or obstructing climate progress. But neither bank will make the ratio public.
New EV contender: Geely is the latest Chinese carmaker preparing to enter the Canadian market after Carney’s trade deal. Geely already has a footprint in Canada through its Volvo and Polestar dealerships.
QUICK HITS
Uber is investing $1.25B in Rivian robotaxis
The US now produces enough battery storage to meet its own demand
H&M invested in this startup making textiles out of CO2
NVIDIA is building AI factories as grid assets
Fervo is taking geothermal public
The US International Trade Commission just killed anti-dumping duties on Chinese battery materials
Solar balconies are starting to take off in the US
€10B in bids swamped the EU's industrial heat fund - double the available funding
Data centre projects are slowing as developers fight for grid access
🚀 Invest Together in Climate Innovation: Spring’s investment prize for early-stage climate ventures ready to raise. Founders apply by April 6th, investors by April 27th.
🗓 N3 Summit: Canada’s flagship advanced manufacturing summit. March 31st, Toronto.
🗓 kWh Summit: Driving grid innovation to unlock the full potential of the electric vehicle transition. April 7th, Toronto.
🗓 Carbon to Sea 2026: Join the Carbon to Sea Initiative’s annual convening to explore the future of ocean-based carbon removal. April 28-30th, Halifax.
💻 GoBolt is hiring a Strategy & Operations Manager, People & Culture.