Gyre Energy raises just over £1m led by Speedinvest with support from Rule 30
This article covers Gyre Energy, a supply chain startup, and its pre-seed funding round that raised £1m to enable enterprise-scale cold chain deployments. The development aims to support cold chain operators and logistics providers by reducing energy use and shifting demand away from peak-price periods.
Gyre Energy, a supply chain startup focused on energy technology, has raised over £1m in a pre-seed funding round as it moves into enterprise-scale cold chain deployments — a step that matters because cooling is an increasingly large and costly part of energy systems and supply chains worldwide.
Why it matters
Cooling already accounts for a substantial share of global electricity demand, and analysts warn that demand growth will put additional pressure on power grids, buildings and critical infrastructure. For operators of cold storage and other temperature-controlled facilities, energy is a major operating cost and a point of vulnerability in tight-margin logistics.
Gyre’s funding and its first deployment with a global logistics operator aim to address this operational and system-level problem by reducing energy use and shifting demand away from peak-price periods. If the approach scales, it could offer a way for cold chain operators — and later other heavy cooling users such as data centres — to cut costs without wholesale infrastructure replacement.
Inside the product
Gyre combines software and thermal storage hardware. Its AI-driven platform analyses how a site behaves, forecasts cooling demand and optimises plant operation to reduce overall energy use while preserving temperature stability. The company’s thermal energy storage stores cooling capacity when electricity is cheaper and greener, then releases it during peak periods so equipment runs less when power costs most.
The funding will support Gyre’s largest deployment to date: installation of its optimisation and thermal storage platform within a chamber of a 140,000 sq ft cold chain facility. Performance will be measured against an IPMVP baseline. The customer is unnamed for commercial reasons, but Gyre says this marks its first enterprise-scale project with a global logistics operator.
Gyre has published results from an earlier UK deployment at a 2,900 sq ft frozen facility for a national chilled and frozen distribution business. There, the company reports a 38% cut in electricity costs, a 35% reduction in daily energy consumption and a payback period under 1.5 years.
Who are the investors?
The round was led by Speedinvest, with participation from Rule 30 and Plug and Play. The company says the funding package comprises both investment and grant funding totalling just over £1m and will bankroll the enterprise deployment and further commercial expansion.
In the announcement, Alex Davis, Investor at Speedinvest, said:
Cooling is one of the most fundamental and overlooked problems in the energy transition, and Gyre is tackling it head on. This is AI applied to the real world, delivering real outcomes in the shape of lower energy consumption and more resilient supply chains. In the twelve months since we invested, Dougald, Tom, Mike and the team have executed exceptionally, moving from proven first commercial deployment to working with one of the world's most sophisticated cold chain operators. Gyre is building a core layer of the energy stack of the future, and we're delighted to be on this journey with a team that is global by nature and unbounded in its ambition.
The investor backing signals confidence in Gyre’s technical approach and commercial traction as the company moves from smaller pilots to an enterprise environment where savings scale with size.
If you're researching potential backers in this space:
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Founder perspective
In the announcement, Dougald Coulson, Co-founder & CEO at Gyre Energy, said:
Cooling already accounts for around a fifth of global electricity demand, and it's rapidly growing. For the operators we work with, energy is one of their largest costs and cooling is the part they've had the least control over. What's really resonating with our customers is that the same infrastructure that has historically been a cost line can become an energy asset. Working with one of the world's largest logistics operators gives us the opportunity to prove that approach in one of the most demanding cold chain environments in the world.
The business was founded by Coulson (CEO), Michael McKenna (CTO) and Tom Gibson (COO). All three are Oxford MBAs with backgrounds in machine learning, energy systems and energy technology commercialisation. Gyre has also picked up recognition and support from several programmes and competitions, including Innovate UK grants, SXSW London Venture Spotlight (second place) and selection as an MIT Climate Solver.
The bigger picture
Gyre’s announcement sits at the intersection of two trends: rising cooling demand across economies and increased interest in using software and flexible assets to reshape when and how energy is consumed. The company’s stated plan to extend applications beyond cold storage — notably into data centres, which face their own energy and thermal challenges as AI workloads grow — reflects that broader market opportunity.
For the UK and European ecosystem, the deal is another example of early-stage capital plus public grants de-risking new energy technologies and helping startups move from pilots to enterprise contracts. How effectively Gyre can replicate pilot results at scale — and in different cooling contexts — will determine whether this model becomes a common route to cutting energy and costs across logistics and beyond.
They've invested in Gyre Energy
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