35. Phononic

Founder: Tony Atti (CEO)
Launched: 2009
Headquarters: Durham, North Carolina
Funding: $230 million
Valuation: $750 million
Key technologies: Artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, Internet of Things
Industry: Logistics
Previous appearances on Disruptor 50 List: 4 (No. 39 in 2023)

Keeping food cold is a very large business, but the refrigeration technology behind it hasn't experienced much change.

Based in North Carolina's Research Triangle, solid-state cooling company Phononic pioneered semiconductor devices that cool and freeze products from frozen seafood to processed meat, snacks, and ice cream, covering a global cold chain supply and transport system, and large supermarket freezers — its "tote" units are reusable and can be leased to grocery stores and retailers, and offer three independent temperature zones.

"In the world of cooling refrigeration, we're still depending upon a more than century-old mechanical incumbent," Tony Atti, Phononic CEO, told CNBC last year.

In the last year, Phononic has evolved its science into new applications. It collaborated with HVAC company Halton to launch the world's first and largest solid-state HVAC commercial installation in downtown Paris in a 19th century building.

"Commercial buildings consume roughly a third of electric power around the world," Atti told NYSE. "Yet [they] generate more than 50% of our C02 emissions."

Its commercial HVAC platform has been adopted by real estate developers like Hines, JLL and Brookfield.

With a future reliant on AI across the economy, the company now supplies millions of devices providing cooling critical to data centers around the globe. As autonomous vehicle technology has evolved, Phononic has found a niche serving its cooling needs as well. Late last year, Phononic and Luminar announced a deal to provide thermoelectric devices to cool LIDAR sensors used in self-driving. In all, it says there are now 20 million of its devices involved in critical operations related to these technologies and key to companies from Nvidia to Microsoft.

That is in addition to thousands of cooling solutions supporting e-commerce grocery growth targets for companies including Amazon and Walmart. Earlier this year, Phononic announced a deal with ShopRite, the supermarket brand that is part of Wakefern Food Corp., the nation's largest retailer-owned supermarket cooperative, to become the first retail chain to launch Phononic's latest freezer and refrigerator totes at a location in New York. ShopRite says the totes allow it to cut down on the real estate footprint needed for order, pickup and delivery. 

"Not only is it easy to integrate the totes into ShopRite's existing operations, but it's incredibly scalable — capable of growing easily alongside ShopRite's booming curbside business, and agile enough to keep up with daily order fluctuations," said Larry Yang, chief product officer at Phononic, in a release.

Phononic's over $200 million in total funding with a $750 million implied valuation comes from top investors include Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Temasek and Franklin Templeton.