In line with sector trends and accompanying the main international cloud providers, the Catalan company Submer is experiencing exponential growth in the business of advanced immersion cooling solutions for data centers.
To adapt to the increase in demand and the new power specificities of clients ---who order larger structures, moving from kilowatts to megawatts---, Submer needs a more spacious work area to develop large-scale modular technology, often turnkey; "similar to those of a ship," says Pol Valls, co-founder of the firm. Therefore, the company is finalizing for this September the relocation of its headquarters and operations center from L'Hospitalet de Llobregat to Rubí to gain manufacturing and assembly surface for the cooling tanks.
Submer Technologies has leased an 8,006 square meter logistics warehouse owned by the real estate investment platform Talus, in the Cova Solera industrial park in the municipality of Rubí, in Vallès Occidental. The warehouse has 1,403 square meters of fully equipped and conditioned offices with changing rooms, as well as a garden area and private car parking, in an operation managed by the consultancy Forcadell.
The technology solutions company and the real estate investment firm Talus Real Estate have invested more than three million euros in the renovation of the space, with the aim of expanding and improving its facilities as a business strategy of the startup to continue innovating in its processes and for the space to have Breeam Very Good certification, for which, among other measures, it has been equipped with solar panels.
In the last 32 years, specifically until last November, the facilities were owned by the Intersport group, which had its corporate headquarters there and divested them to improve its financial situation. Intersport moved to Sant Cugat Business Park.
Together with Daniel Pope, Valls is the architect of the Submer project which, since its creation seven years ago, has registered an increasing demand, having, as of today, a order book valued at more than 10 million euros, linked to national and international projects of the main cloud providers.
There is concern about the energy costs that data centers must bear, explains Pol Valls. "The market shows signs of maturity," he explains, "with significant interest in sustainability, the reduction of the impact of their structures, the density of semiconductors; and even more now as a result of the consequences that geopolitics, with events such as the war in Ukraine, have had on energy costs." Globally, data centers are expected to consume 10% of electricity and be responsible for 2.75% of greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, placing them above the airline industry in terms of their carbon footprint.
Submer offers innovative technology to address these challenges. It works by cooling data center server units in modular tanks filled with a biodegradable, electrically non-conductive liquid that absorbs heat and dissipates it through heat exchangers for efficient reuse in commercial and industrial environments. The technology eliminates the use of refrigerant gas and uses 50% less energy, 99% less water, and 85% less real estate than traditional cooling methods.
Technological, labor, and geographical expansion
Submer's current workforce in Catalonia, about 75 people, will move to Rubí, where "we are already opening with capacity to expand the number of workers," the co-founder of the startup Pol Valls tells The New Barcelona Post, pointing to hundreds of jobs. With a forecast to triple 2021's turnover, its founders expect to exceed 10 million euros this year.
The company closed its third financing round in January, for 30 million euros, led by the international fund Planet First Partners, focused on sustainability and green energy, which joined Submer's existing shareholders, such as Norrsken VC, Alma Mundi Ventures, and Tim Reynolds.
The group closed its third investment round for 30 million euros earlier this yearThe funding will boost R&D around next-generation liquid coolants and data center automation and has accelerated international expansion with the opening last March of a new 40,000 square meter factory in Houston, Texas. With about twenty workers, Houston will allow the company to fulfill orders of up to one gigawatt per year.
Although the new American factory will initially be set up to offer Submer's Hyperscale and Crypto product lines, it will also serve as the new North American headquarters. Future plans include producing other innovative Submer immersion products.