Six International Startups Complete Inaugural Net Zero Start-Up Hub incubation program
The six-month initiative connected startups with leading companies across the data center industry to accelerate innovation in energy, cooling, heat reuse, and resource efficiency
The startup hub is a flagship initiative under the Net Zero Innovation Hub for Data Centers’ approach to identifying, testing, and de-risking new technologies for the data center industry.
The inaugural program brought together startups from Denmark, Finland, Germany, and the United States to explore how emerging technologies can help address some of the industry’s most pressing challenges.
Throughout the program, participants worked closely with experts from across the data center value chain, strengthening their technologies, deepening their understanding of industry needs, and exploring opportunities for future validation and collaboration.
The completion of the inaugural cohort was celebrated with a graduation reception hosted at the Net Zero Innovation Hub for Data Centers in Fredericia, bringing together startup founders, industry partners, public stakeholders, and representatives from across the digital infrastructure ecosystem.
“Innovation will play a critical role in delivering both the digital and green transition. Through our structured innovation approach, we work with the industry to identify, test, and de-risk new technologies with the potential to support the transition toward net zero. The Start-Up Hub is an important part of that effort, helping strengthen the innovation pipeline needed to build the next generation of digital infrastructure,” said Alberto Ravagni, CEO of the Net Zero Innovation Hub for Data Centers.
Speaking at the reception, Peder Tind, Mayor of Fredericia Municipality, highlighted the importance of bringing together entrepreneurs, industry, research, and the public sector around shared challenges.
“Fredericia is proud to host an initiative that attracts entrepreneurs and innovators from across Europe. Bringing together startups, industry leaders, researchers, and public stakeholders around the green transition is exactly the kind of ecosystem we want to build here.”
He also noted that several participating companies are already moving into concrete discussions and testing activities with partners connected to the Net Zero Innovation Hub.
For Google, one of the initiative’s partners, the program demonstrates the value of connecting emerging technologies with the companies that will ultimately deploy them.
“We can’t solve the challenges ahead on our own. The program demonstrates the value of bringing startups and industry together to develop and test new solutions. We simply need more innovation and more collaborations like this,” said Niels M. Andersen, Senior Public Affairs Manager at Google.
More information about the Net Zero Start-Up Hub incubation program for 2026-2027 will be announced next week.
About the First Net Zero Start-Up Hub Cohort
The inaugural cohort brought together six international startups developing technologies that support the future of digital infrastructure:
- NeoCarbon (Germany) – Direct Air Capture using waste heat.
- AirJoule (USA) – Heat reuse and atmospheric water harvesting.
- ShipTown (Denmark) – Reversible hydrogen battery technology.
- Halide Energy (Finland) – Copper flow battery energy storage.
- Sperra (USA/Denmark) – Floating modular data centers.
- Zero Entropy (Denmark) – More efficient large heat pumps and cooling systems.
The Net Zero Start-Up Hub is a flagship initiative under the Net Zero Innovation Hub for Data Centers’ Structured Innovation Approach. The 2025-2026 program was delivered in collaboration with Business Fredericia, Danish Data Center Industry, Energy Cluster Denmark, DTU, and Google. The initiative helps identify, test, and de-risk promising technologies that can contribute to the industry’s transition toward net zero.
Learn more about the Net Zero Start-Up Hub and this year’s cohort.
