Coolgradient

Coolgradient is a Dutch company established to address the significant and growing energy consumption of data centers. Founded in Amsterdam in 2023 by Jasper de Vries and René Gompel, the firm provides an AI-driven software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform designed to optimize data center operations, with a particular focus on cooling and power infrastructure. The founders' backgrounds are complementary; de Vries has extensive experience in machine learning and data-driven solutions, including founding an AI edtech company, while Gompel brings over two decades of leadership experience in director and partner roles. Their collaboration began several years prior at ViaConnect Group, a consultancy that utilized AI to enhance data center sustainability.

The company's business model is centered on its AI software solution that helps data center operators reduce energy and water consumption. It targets data center executives, operations leaders, and portfolio managers. The platform integrates with a facility's existing data points without the need for additional hardware or IoT projects, analyzing information from the entire infrastructure, from the 'roof-to-room'. By leveraging machine learning models trained on billions of data points, Coolgradient identifies inefficiencies in systems like chillers, cooling towers, and CRAHs. It then provides automated, prioritized recommendations and quantifies potential savings, which can be as high as 40% for energy and 25% for water. This holistic view allows for the harmonization of all operational assets, distinguishing it from solutions that focus on isolated components.

The service provides a single interface, or 'single pane of glass', for monitoring the entire data center ecosystem, from a portfolio-wide perspective down to individual assets. This enables clients to proactively address operational risks, reduce costs, and improve sustainability metrics like Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) and Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE). Furthermore, the software assists with automated compliance reporting for regulations such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED). Following a seed funding round in May 2024 led by 4impact capital, Coolgradient is focused on international expansion.

Keywords: data center optimization, AI software, energy efficiency, data center cooling, power infrastructure, sustainability, machine learning, PUE optimization, WUE optimization, operational analytics, facility management software, ESG reporting, asset reliability, predictive maintenance, resource management, green data center, infrastructure optimization, energy consumption reduction, water savings, portfolio management