Pascal, a Harvard-founded startup, has raised $8.5 million to commercialize what it says is a fundamentally different approach to refrigeration and heat pumps. The company was formed around a discovery by CEO Adam Slavney and CTO Jinyoung Seo, who found that compressing carbon dioxide into a cartridge containing a proprietary sponge-like material can move heat effectively. Pascal says the method could make appliances about 20% more efficient than current models.
Unlike traditional refrigerants such as Freon or newer greenhouse gases like R-134a, Pascal's system uses CO2 held inside a solid cartridge, so it cannot leak into the atmosphere. The company says the material has cycled 300,000 times, equivalent to about a year of operation, and relies on conventional system components, which it believes will keep costs low enough for broad adoption.
Pascal has already signed a pilot contract with a multinational beverage company, a milestone that accelerated the fundraising. It expects to deliver its first prototype early next year, with a batch of more polished refrigerators planned for 2028. This article is based on a single TechCrunch report, so there are no contrasting accounts to compare.