Following 15+ years of research on calorics materials by its founder, Barocal has patented solid-state cooling and heating platform technology designed to replace century-old vapour-compression systems at cost parity, all while reducing emissions.

The technology targets the ~$450bn global heating and cooling market, addressing the rapidly growing demand for cooling in data centres.

The Cambridge University spin-out, founded in 2019 by leading materials researcher Prof. Xavier Moya, has raised $10M (€8.6M) from World Fund, Breakthrough Energy Discovery, Cambridge Enterprise Ventures and IP Group to make key hires and accelerate commercialisation.

CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom, May 04, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Barocal, the Cambridge University spin-out commercialising efficient, refrigerant-gas-free cooling and heating technology, has raised a $10 million seed round to accelerate development and scale its engineering team ahead of commercial deployment.

Barocal is commercialising a much-needed solution at the perfect time. The company will initially target fast-growing applications, including data centre cooling and commercial refrigeration, tapping into a ~$450 billion global HVAC market that is expected to surge to ~$577 billion by 2033. At scale, Barocal's technology will significantly reduce heating and cooling sector emissions through efficiency gains and avoiding gas refrigerants. The sector is responsible for around 15% of annual global greenhouse gas emissions, a far higher proportion than the aviation sector, yet receiving far less attention. Cooling alone accounted for more than 4 Gt of CO₂e in 2022, and demand is expected to triple by 2050.

Professor Xavier Moya, a leading expert in caloric materials and systems, founded Barocal ...