Qurie GmbH, a spin-off from the Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Measurement Techniques IPM in Germany, is entering the market with caloric cooling technology. Founded in 2026, the company develops solid-state heat pumps based on electrocaloric materials.
The technology uses the temperature change of a solid-state material under an electric field to create a cooling cycle. According to Fraunhofer IPM, caloric systems can theoretically exceed 80 percent thermodynamic efficiency, while compressor-based heat pumps can reach 50 percent of the possible thermodynamic efficiency.
Fraunhofer IPM is contributing a patented concept for heat dissipation based on active electrocaloric heat pipes. These heat pipes transfer latent heat through evaporation and condensation of a fluid, such as ethanol or water, on the caloric material. The system does not require magnets or actuator systems.
“With our heat pipe approach, we dissipate heat very efficiently within the system and can thus achieve significantly higher pump frequencies than were previously possible with heat transport via liquids,” said Dr. Kilian Bartholomé, Group Manager at Fraunhofer IPM and one of the founders of Qurie.
Qurie’s first target markets are control cabinet and laser cooling. The company plans to develop electrocaloric systems for commercial cooling and later for the consumer market. In April, Qurie completed a seed funding round with High-Tech Gründerfonds, the Technology Transfer Fund TT49 of the European Investment Fund, and Aepikur GmbH. Development work will also be supported until the end of 2026 through a research program funded by Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.
