• Saudi Arabia-based deeptech startup Strataphy has raised a $6 million seed round, led by Outliers VC and joined by Shorooq, with participation from PlusVC (+VC).
• Founded in 2025 by Ammar Alali and Ahmed Alhani, Strataphy develops and operates proprietary geothermal cooling systems that reduce energy consumption and costs for data centres, gigaprojects, and cities.
• The company will use the funding to expand engineering and operations teams and advance deployment across the Kingdom and the UAE.

Press release:

Strataphy, a deep-tech company redefining how the world cools AI and industrial infrastructure, has raised $6 million in seed funding led by Outliers VC and joined by Shorooq, with participation from PlusVC (+VC).

The company will use the new funding to advance its technology, expand its full-service stack, and grow its engineering and operations teams to support new deployments across gigaprojects, industrial facilities, and hyperscale data centres in MENA and beyond. 

Cooling has quietly become the biggest constraint on hyperscale expansion and industrial growth, especially in hot-climate regions, where it already consumes nearly 50% of total electricity use across sectors. The pressure is most acute in the Middle East, home to one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing cooling markets at $120+ billion annually, including $13 billion in Saudi Arabia alone. 

Strataphy’s platform, powered by its proprietary PrimeLoop™ subsurface technology, provides a fundamentally new approach: leveraging deep, stable thermal energy to cool infrastructure with drastically lower power requirements. The system enables industrial and commercial facilities, including data centres, to cut energy intensity, reduce operating costs, and meet surging cooling demand.

Speaking on the fundraise announcement, Dr. Ammar Alali, co-founder and CEO of Strataphy, said, “AI and industrial infrastructure are scaling faster than the systems that keep them cool and efficient. In AI hardware, cooling has quietly outpaced semiconductors, servers, and even data centres as the largest driver of net-new hardware spending since 2022. Our mission is to build the backbone for next-generation cooling that is scalable, reliable, and cost-efficient. This investment will accelerate our technology, expand our team, and enable us to meet the surging demand across the region and beyond.”

Dr. Ammar Alali, who holds a PhD in Earth Sciences and Energy Systems from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), co-founded Strataphy with Ahmed Alhani. Ammar and Ahmed have worked together for over 15 years at Saudi Aramco and other ventures, leading projects in subsurface exploration, geothermal systems, and energy optimisation. This shared experience is the foundation of PrimeLoop, Strataphy’s proprietary subsurface cooling technology, purpose-built for high-temperature regions with dominant cooling needs and engineered to overcome the limitations of conventional geothermal systems originally designed for heating in colder climates.

Strataphy’s clients and partners include NEOM, King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Tabreed, Enersol, ADNOC Drilling, and Alpha Dhabi Holdings, among others, across the region. These deployments highlight the rising demand for scalable, efficient cooling solutions in high-temperature environments. Strataphy’s Cooling-as-a-Service model shifts geothermal cooling from a capital expense to a predictable operating cost, allowing organisations to deploy advanced systems with minimal upfront investment while reducing long-term energy consumption and improving reliability.

Strataphy has successfully demonstrated PrimeLoop in commercial settings and documented electricity cost reductions of up to 49% compared to conventional cooling systems, proving its ability to deliver efficient, reliable, and scalable cooling in some of the world’s hottest environments.

Mohammed Almeshekah, Founder and General Partner at Outliers VC shared, “Cooling remains one of the most overlooked opportunities in the region’s broader infrastructure transformation. As demand accelerates and AI adds further pressure, efficient and scalable cooling is becoming essential for sustained growth. Strataphy’s subsurface-powered approach delivers a step change in reliability and energy use. We are backing the team because they are rethinking the infrastructure that will shape the region's next decade of progress.”

Shane Shin, Founding Partner at Shorooq, concluded, “Cooling infrastructure is the hidden backbone of the AI and industrial revolution. What Strataphy is building isn’t just a better system; it’s a fundamental rethinking of how energy, environment, and infrastructure intersect in hot-climate economies. Their ability to turn subsurface cooling into a scalable service unlocks an entirely new layer of sustainability and performance for the region. We’re backing Strataphy because they’re not just solving for heat; they’re enabling the infrastructure that will power the next decade of innovation.”