Chip Cooling Startup Frore Systems Reaches $1.64B Unicorn Valuation

Quick Facts

• Frore Systems raised $143 million in Series D funding led by MVP Ventures, reaching a $1.64 billion valuation
• The company’s LiquidJet cooling system enables 75% higher heat transfer efficiency and allows GPUs to operate 8°C cooler
• Global AI compute demand is projected to grow more than 3x by 2030, driving need for advanced cooling solutions

Frore Systems became the latest deep tech unicorn on March 16, 2026, after raising $143 million in Series D funding led by MVP Ventures. The eight-year-old semiconductor cooling startup achieved a $1.64 billion valuation.

The round included participation from Fidelity Management & Research Company, Mayfield Fund, Qualcomm Ventures, and other investors. Frore has now raised $340 million total since its 2018 founding.

The Silicon Valley company develops liquid cooling systems for AI chips rather than manufacturing semiconductors directly. CEO Seshu Madhavapeddy and CTO Surya Ganti, both former Qualcomm engineers, initially focused on air-cooling technology for phones and small electronics.

The pivot to liquid cooling came after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang received a demo of Frore’s technology two years ago. Huang suggested developing liquid cooling options for AI chips and systems. The company now produces cooling solutions for Nvidia, Qualcomm, and AMD chips.

Frore’s LiquidJet system delivers 75% higher heat transfer efficiency compared to traditional coldplates. The technology allows GPUs to operate about 8°C cooler, increases AI token generation throughput by 4%, and reduces power usage effectiveness by 10%.

For Nvidia’s 1400W Blackwell Ultra GPU, LiquidJet increases cooling performance by 75% or reduces maximum die temperature by 7.7°C. For the 1950W Nvidia Rubin GPU, it delivers over 50% better cooling performance or 7.5°C lower temperatures.

“Cooling has become the single greatest limiter of AI performance,” said Madhavapeddy. “Traditional thermal technologies cannot keep pace with the AI revolution.”

The data center cooling market is expected to grow from $31.39 billion in 2026 to $128.31 billion by 2033, representing a 22.3% compound annual growth rate. Solid-state cooling specifically will expand from $1.01 billion in 2026 to $2.06 billion by 2034.

Frore plans to use the funding to expand manufacturing operations in Taiwan. The company competes with other cooling specialists including Accelsius, which raised $65 million in January 2026, and Boyd, which partners with Nvidia on custom liquid cooling systems.

“We’re witnessing a fundamental shift in AI infrastructure, where thermal performance is critical for compute performance and reducing operating costs,” said Navin Chaddha, managing partner at Mayfield Fund.

The funding round reflects growing investor interest in AI infrastructure companies. Recent unicorns in the semiconductor space include Nvidia competitor Positron at $1 billion valuation and Recursive Intelligence at $4 billion.

Read more: Another deep tech chip startup becomes a unicorn: Frore hits $1.64B