Jonathan Naimon, Managing Partner“If there’s one thing that you need more of in a changing climate, it’s more cooling,” says Naimon.
Turning this invisible requirement into an investable opportunity became the foundation for Sustana. Drawing on decades in sustainable and solar investment for California pension and European investors, Naimon is building a specialist fund to give investors dedicated exposure to “cool” tech companies scaling against a global tidal wave of heat.
The numbers reveal the imbalance. Sustana estimates cooling applications consume twice the electricity generated by solar and wind, while cold chain receives less than one percent of climate finance. The firm tracks more than 100 founder-led companies and estimates its target market will grow from USD 84 billion in 2023 to USD 282 billion by 2032, roughly 15 percent annually. Smaller cooling specialists present a key growth bet.
Commercial Proof before Capital
Sustana begins with commercial validation. Companies need working products, measurable customer energy cost advantages, and regional sales. International Finance Corporation Tech Emerge demonstrations involving hundreds of cooling innovators and commercial customers provide additional operating evidence for screening.
Ecozen (Ecozensolutions.com) reflects Sustana’s investment thesis. Its IOT and solar cold room technology enables customers to switch among solar, battery and grid power, preserving product quality, enabling sales and reducing cost and grid dependence. According to Naimon, Ecozen generates more than USD 100 million in global revenue, including its Ecotron pumps.
Commercial proof is the starting point. Sustana targets equity investments to help companies scale processes and expand into new markets, with a catalytic-capital tranche designed to reduce emerging market risk for commercial investors. As cold chain businesses scale, Sustana anticipates offering LPs co-investments and access to follow-on funds.
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If there’s one thing that you need more of in a changing climate, it’s more cooling.
This investment pathway connects commercial validation, specialist diligence, geographic expansion and larger-scale capital with strategic acquisition. Citing Ecolab USD 4B+ CoolIT acquisition, Naimon expects trade sales to crystalize value with established construction, cold-chain, real estate and tech companies, rather than IPOs, as the principal exit route.
A Specialist Network for Global Scaling
Scaling cooling portfolio receives more than cash. Sustana combines investment diligence with expertise spanning refrigeration technology, energy, electronics, agriculture, food systems, buildings, and emerging markets. Partners in Africa and Asia help identify companies, assess technologies and support expansion with networks in fast-growing emerging markets.
That expertise matters because cooling demand crosses industries and geographies. Real estate developers face rising heat loads from electronics, while emerging markets with rising incomes and expanding digital infrastructure are growing faster than US. Efficient technologies can meet this demand while controlling electricity costs and supporting grid resilience.
Making Impact Measurable
For Sustana, impact benefits stem from the same energy performance gains. Technologies requiring less electricity reduce customer costs while lowering emissions and grid stress. Stronger cold chains improve sales, food availability, in addition to reducing climate risk.
The firm tracks energy savings, avoided emissions, cold-chain access, refrigeration delivered, food transported without spoilage, carbon benefits, private capital mobilized and jobs created.
Building a Broader Investment Platform
Sustana benchmarks small cooling companies against larger companies. The Sustana COOL™ index is a portfolio of public companies Sustana believes are innovators in managing heat explosion. In addition to traditional HVAC companies, the index includes cold chain innovators chips, servers, construction, energy and electronics industries.
The thesis connecting these efforts is straightforward. Cooling is unavoidable, increasingly important and comparatively underfunded. Sustana’s distinction lies in turning that gap into an investment architecture combining commercial validation, specialist diligence, catalytic capital, global scaling, measurable impact and strategic exits, earning recognition as a Top Venture Impact Fund Solutions 2026.
