A New Chapter for Cooling in the MENA Region
As power plants, industrial facilities, and large commercial buildings across the Middle East grapple with soaring cooling demands, Saudi-based startup Strataphy is positioning geothermal cooling as the region’s next major leap in energy efficiency. The company has secured $6 million in new funding, a significant early-stage boost that underscores investor confidence in its approach to transforming how industrial cooling is delivered.
Founded in 2025, Strataphy focuses on reducing the energy intensity and operational costs of cooling — a sector that can consume up to 70% of electricity in peak-heat markets. For a region facing rising temperatures, increasing population, and heavy industrialisation, the timing could not be more relevant.
The Tech: Geothermal “Cooling as a Service”
At the centre of Strataphy’s model is Cooling as a Service (CAS) — a subscription-based offering in which Strataphy designs, installs, and operates geothermal cooling systems, while customers pay for cooling capacity rather than the full upfront cost of system installation.
The company’s geothermal approach taps into stable underground temperatures to cool water or air before it enters industrial or commercial systems. Early performance indicators suggest significant savings, including up to 50% reductions in energy consumption, lower water usage, decreased operational noise, and a smaller physical footprint compared to traditional chillers or cooling towers.
By absorbing the upfront cost and technical risk — including subsurface drilling, system engineering, and long-term maintenance — Strataphy removes the biggest barrier to geothermal adoption in the region: capital intensity.
Why the $6 Million Raise Matters
While modest compared to mega-rounds in the global climatetech ecosystem, a $6 million raise is a major milestone for a geothermal-focused startup in its early phase. It enables Strataphy to:
- De-risk installation-heavy projects that require drilling and subsurface analysis
- Move from pilot installations to commercial-scale deployments
- Fund R&D and optimise its proprietary well-completion and cooling technologies
- Expand its customer pipeline across power-generation, industrial, commercial, healthcare, and data-centre clients
- Position itself early in a high-growth cooling market, projected to exceed tens of billions of dollars annually across the GCC by 2030
Cooling is one of the region’s most pressing infrastructure needs. As energy transitions accelerate, efficient cooling is becoming a strategic industrial priority — not just an operational one.
First Deployments and Regional Traction
Strataphy has already initiated drilling and thermal response testing in northwest Saudi Arabia, reaching depths of around 250 meters and confirming favourable geological conditions for geothermal cooling systems.
The company is also in discussions with:
- Industrial operators, including manufacturers and processing plants
- Commercial property developers, from malls to airports
- Healthcare facilities and hospitals with high cooling reliability needs
- Data centres, one of the region’s fastest-growing sources of cooling demand
Early partnerships in industrial and agricultural operations show the versatility of the CAS model — from steel factories to large-scale poultry producers.
Combined with rising regulatory support for sustainability and grid efficiency across Saudi Arabia and the UAE, Strataphy’s timing aligns closely with national priorities.
What Comes Next: Scale, Markets & Execution
To fulfil its growth ambitions, Strataphy will now focus on:
- Delivering full-scale operational systems beyond testing and pilot phases
- Providing real-world proof points showing energy and cost reductions
- Expanding into neighbouring GCC markets, where cooling is both a massive burden and a massive opportunity
- Strengthening its financing structure, since CAS models require upfront capital before recurring revenue kicks in
- Competing on differentiation, especially around drilling efficiency, service quality, and the adaptability of its geothermal systems to varying terrains
If executed well, Strataphy could emerge as one of the Middle East’s defining climatetech companies — a regional champion proving that geothermal cooling can scale commercially, not just scientifically.
Key Takeaways for Founders and Industry Leaders
- Service-based climate solutions work when they remove capex and simplify adoption.
- Cooling is one of the Middle East’s biggest energy drains—innovating here has outsized impact.
- Region-specific tech adaptations create competitive advantages, not constraints.
- Funding capital-heavy climate infrastructure early creates a long-term moat.
- Execution (not just innovation) will determine which climatetech startups survive the next decade.
Editor’s Note — The Startups MENA Team
At Startups MENA, we focus on the narratives that define how the Middle East builds its next-generation workforce and innovation economy. The rise of Strataphy is more than just another startup raise — it signals how the region is turning its climate challenge into a climate-tech opportunity.
By combining engineering innovation, regional demand, and service-driven business models, Strataphy reflects a deeper shift underway: founders building solutions tailored to the realities of the Middle East, not imported from elsewhere.
As Gulf nations accelerate toward their national visions for 2030 and beyond, the future of cooling — a defining challenge of this region — will increasingly be shaped by startups like Strataphy.
— The Startups MENA Editorial Team
