apheros AG

By 2030, the world’s data centres are expected to use around 945 TWh of electricity a year, more than Japan uses today, according to the International Energy Agency. Nearly all of that power turns into heat, and the newest AI chips run so hot that air cooling can’t keep up.

Apheros is an ETH Zürich spin-off in Baden that makes open-pore metal foam. Think of a sponge made of metal, full of tiny connected channels. We put this foam inside cold plates, the metal blocks that sit directly on a processor with liquid flowing through them. The foam gives the liquid much more surface to pull heat from, so chips stay cool more efficiently.

The same material helps produce green hydrogen. In an electrolyser, renewable electricity splits water into hydrogen and oxygen at the electrodes. Our porous electrodes let water reach the reaction and let the gas bubbles escape, which keeps the process running efficiently.