CFT and Arup sign MoU to develop Deep Rack Venture Studio
Deep Rack Venture Studio to revolutionise data centre infrastructure.
Applying breakthrough science to the toughest infrastructure challenges in global compute.
London, UK – Cambridge Future Tech (CFT), the UK’s leading scientific venture builder, and global built environment consultancy Arup, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on the creation of the Deep Rack Venture Studio - an initiative targeting the creation of 16 new startups addressing critical challenges in global data centre infrastructure.
The studio will aim to build ventures tackling system-level bottlenecks in data centre performance, resilience, efficiency, and sustainability. Focus areas will include cooling, energy, density, and circularity, key challenges delaying or derailing the expansion of this critical infrastructure.
New data centres encounter planning roadblocks, water consumption concerns, grid capacity shortfalls, and rising pressure to cut energy and material waste. Meanwhile, existing sites are straining under surging demand and impeded by outdated cooling, tight power budgets, and rigid infrastructure.
The studio is targeting commencement in 2026 and is inviting additional strategic partners to join the collaboration, providing early access to the technologies shaping the next generation of compute.
“Without breakthroughs in infrastructure, the expansion of rack-scale compute will hit real-world limits across power, heat and space.”
Steve Raffe, Commercial Director at Cambridge Future Tech.
CFT and Arup bring complementary capabilities to the venture studio model. CFT identifies breakthrough academic research and builds companies around it using a structured process developed across its portfolio of spinouts. Arup brings decades of global experience designing and delivering high-performance data centres for global cloud and colocation providers - expertise that ensures new technologies are resilient, scalable, and sustainable in practice.
“Much of the science we need to solve these problems already exists, but rarely escapes the lab without intervention,” said Raffe. “By combining CFT’s model for uncovering and commercialising radical science with Arup’s ability to shape real-world systems, we can create ventures that are ambitious, practical, and designed to scale globally.”
“Meeting the soaring demand for digital infrastructure requires tackling power, cooling and carbon challenges head-on. Through the Deep Rack Venture Studio, Arup will help bring breakthrough science into real-world data centres - solutions that are scalable, sustainable, and engineered for deployment from day one”
Gareth Williams, Arup UKIMEA Technology Leader.
The Deep Rack Venture Studio will apply CFT’s Scientific Venture Creation process, which has produced startups such as Literal Labs (developing logic-based AI models 54× faster and 52× more energy efficient than neural networks) and Dew Point Systems (an evaporative cooling technology that achieved 3× higher efficiency than advanced hybrids during data centre pilot testing). Arup’s expertise will ensure technologies are selected and developed for more than disruption - focusing on resilience, scalability and sustainability in operational data centres.
For more information:
Steve Raffe
Cambridge Future Tech
deeprack@camfuturetech.com
About Cambridge Future Tech
Cambridge Future Tech (CFT) founds deep tech ventures. Based in Cambridge, UK, and led by CEO Owen Thompson, it is dedicated to the creation and growth of technologies that never would have existed without early-stage intervention. They work closely with leading UK universities, scientists, and inventors to commercialise scientific discoveries and technological innovations. This includes working on behalf of FTSE 100 companies and in collaboration with industry giants such as Anglo American plc, Nokia Bell Labs, Cemex and a partnership with CERN, the home of the Large Hadron Collider. Learn more >
About Arup
Arup is a global built environment consultancy providing advisory and technical expertise for our clients across more than 150 disciplines. We create safe, resilient, and regenerative places. Learn more >
