Magnotherm’s magnetic cooling is transforming the refrigeration industry
The German startup backed by EIT RawMaterials is bringing magnetic cooling technology to market and rewriting 200 years of refrigeration history.
The Magnotherm team. Photo courtesy of Magnotherm
For nearly 200 years, the world has cooled its food, medicines, and now also its data centres using essentially the same method: compress gas, release it, repeat. Invented in the 1830s, this vapor-compression method still powers around 95% of all cooling systems in the world. It is one of the most widely used technologies on the planet, and one that’s also quietly warming it. Today, the refrigeration and air conditioning industry account for 10% of global energy-related CO2 emissions.
The refrigerants behind this system have long come with environmental costs. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were once the industry standard for decades before scientists discovered they were tearing a hole in the ozone layer, leading to a global ban. Their replacements, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), do not harm the ozone but are powerful greenhouse gases with a global warming potential far higher than CO₂, and are now being phased out.
The next generation of alternatives, hydrofluoroolefins (HFOs), are under scrutiny, too. Classified as PFAS, the so-called "forever chemicals", they are expected to face EU restrictions soon. Natural refrigerants like propane and CO₂ also exist, but each comes with tradeoffs: propane is flammable, and CO₂ systems operate under extreme compression pressures. This makes both technology dangerous to maintain and requires a large pool of skilled workers.
Magnotherm CEO Timur Sirman presents the startup’s ECLIPSE cooling unit, integrated into the RENIMAG cabinet, at EuroShop 2026, in partnership with HAUSER. Photo courtesy of HAUSER GmbH / Fotostudio Nik Fleischmann.
A solid-state alternative
Magnotherm, a Darmstadt-based German startup supported by EIT RawMaterials, is poised to change this. The startup has developed a refrigerant-free cooling technology based on the magnetocaloric effect, a phenomenon in which certain metal alloys heat up when exposed to a magnetic field and cool down when that field is removed. This solid-state cooling system has the potential to significantly reduce emissions and energy use.
At the core of Magnotherm’s technology is the magnetocaloric material LaFeSi (lanthanum-iron-silicon). “We have found a way to make this material stable in the long-term by using a coating approach that we have patented,” said Maximilian Fries, COO and Co-Founder of Magnotherm.
Another key component is the neodymium iron boron magnet used to generate the magnetic field. Crucially, it contains no heavy rare earth elements, making it less exposed to China’s recent export restrictions.
The startup grew out of research at the Technical University of Darmstadt in 2019. Since then, the team has grown to around 30 people and raised a seed round of €6.8 million. Through two EIT RawMaterials programmes, a Booster Call and a KAVA Scaling Call, the startup has received an additional €3.8 million in grant funding and investment to accelerate the development and upscaling of its magnetocaloric material.
Tapping into Europe’s largest rare earths network
For Magnotherm, EIT RawMaterials has provided value not just in funding, but through its network.
"EIT RawMaterials has the deepest network of rare earths in Europe. It’s where all the people dealing with rare earth elements and rare earth permanent magnets actually gather and align,” Fries said. That community is where Magnotherm presents its ideas, receives feedback, and is actively seeking manufacturing partners for its cooling units.
While several companies have attempted to commercialise magnetic cooling, Magnotherm is the only one to have brought a certified product to market, a deliberate move to demonstrate that the technology works and build trust in an established market unfamiliar with the innovation.
The ECLIPSE cooling platform. Photo courtesy of Magnotherm.
Its first unit, Polaris, is the world's first fully certified beverage cooler based on magnetic cooling technology. First delivered to Coca-Cola in early 2023, Magnotherm has since sold 50 units to customers around the world. Its second generation, Eclipse, increases the cooling capacity up to one kilowatt. Earlier this year, Magnotherm signed a pilot with REWE, one of Germany's largest supermarket chains, to deploy Eclipse units in up to ten stores. REWE tested the Eclipse in the pilot and confirmed it used 15% less energy than comparable propane refrigeration units, while maintaining a target temperature of 4–5°C.
Looking ahead, the startup is working to lower costs and secure manufacturing partners to bring magnetic cooling to the mass market. It is also developing higher cooling capacities and exploring applications beyond retail, such as industrial process cooling, data centres, and HVAC.
