NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans-based Corridor Ventures has invested in Atlanta startup Carbice, a developer of advanced thermal management technology for semiconductors, as the venture capital firm continues building its portfolio of companies focused on artificial intelligence infrastructure and other deep technology sectors.

Corridor Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in pre-seed through Series A companies across the U.S. Southeast. The firm, co-founded by managing partners Kelli Saulny and Kwamena Aidoo, invests in companies addressing infrastructure-scale challenges in AI, utilities and advanced manufacturing.

“Carbice is a strong example of Corridor Ventures’ investment strategy,” said Kelli Saulny, managing partner of Corridor Ventures. “We believe the Southeast is becoming a convergence zone where AI, advanced manufacturing, energy and climate innovation are reshaping the economy, and we invest in the operational technologies that make those industries work better.”

Carbice Addresses AI Cooling Challenge

The investment comes as growing demand for artificial intelligence and data centers places increasing pressure on cooling systems, which have emerged as one of the industry’s primary constraints. While energy production can scale, water availability for cooling remains limited, and cooling systems represent one of the largest operating expenses for data centers.

Carbice has developed proprietary carbon nanotube technology designed to improve heat transfer at the chip level, reducing heat generated by servers while lowering water use and operating costs. The International Energy Agency projects global data center electricity demand will more than double by 2030 as AI adoption accelerates, increasing the need for technologies that improve cooling efficiency and reduce resource consumption.

“As AI infrastructure scales, cooling has become one of the industry’s biggest constraints,” Saulny said. “Carbice’s proprietary carbon nanotube technology addresses that challenge by improving heat transfer, reducing water consumption, and lowering operating costs for data centers and other high-performance electronics.”

“Carbice is solving a real bottleneck in AI infrastructure,” said Kwamena Aidoo, managing partner of Corridor Ventures. “As compute demand grows, cooling, not power, is becoming the limiting factor. Carbice’s technology offers a scalable, commercially proven solution to one of the most pressing challenges facing data centers globally.”

According to Carbice, its thermal management products are already deployed commercially in laptops, servers and satellites.

Carbice founder and CEO Baratunde Cola said Corridor Ventures’ experience supporting hardware-focused companies will help the company expand production at what Carbice describes as the world’s largest aligned carbon nanotube manufacturing facility.

“A digital, AI-driven future cannot escape the laws of thermodynamics, and Corridor’s investment in Carbice is a testament to the progress we’ve made in scaling our thermal solutions,” Cola said. “Their expertise in supporting hardware-focused companies will help us accelerate production to meet growing demand across data centers, defense and space.”

According to Carbice, Cola has spent more than 15 years developing the company’s underlying technology and six years building the business into a thermal management company serving multiple industries.

New Orleans Shapes Corridor Ventures Investment Strategy

While Corridor Ventures invests throughout the Southeast, Saulny said the firm’s headquarters in New Orleans continues to shape its investment strategy.

“While we invest throughout the US Southeast region, New Orleans remains our anchor,” Saulny said. “We believe the city sits at the intersection of many of the forces shaping the future – from logistics and energy to healthcare and experience innovation. That perspective informs how we identify investment opportunities across the Southeast.”

“We’re committed to supporting founders, strengthening the regional innovation ecosystem, and investing in companies that are building the technologies and infrastructure powering the next economy,” Saulny said.

Saulny said Corridor Ventures is focused less on specific industries than on technologies that improve the performance of essential sectors.

“We’re industry-agnostic but thesis-driven,” Saulny said. “We focus on companies building the operational layer of the next economy, i.e., technologies that make industries more efficient, resilient, and competitive.”

Saulny said Louisiana remains central to the firm’s investment strategy.

“Louisiana is a core part of our investment strategy,” Saulny said. “We’re actively looking for early-stage founders who are proximate to the problems they’re solving. Our goal is to back category-defining businesses with the potential to compete on a global stage while creating meaningful economic opportunity in Louisiana and across the Southeast.”