Electronics and connectivity firm Molex has invested in liquid cooling vendor CAEPlus.

CAEPlus is an early-stage company developing a liquid cooling solution, known as BoundaryCool, designed to meet the needs of AI and High-Performance Computing (HPC) data centers.

The investment will help Molex advance its own thermal management strategy, with CAEPlus technology becoming part of the company’s portfolio.

“Advanced thermal management is becoming a critical enabler for the next wave of compute performance,” said Jairo Guerrero, VP and GM in Molex’s copper solutions business.

“Our strategic investment in CAEPlus reflects Molex’s commitment to supporting innovations in liquid cooling while working with emerging technology leaders to help customers address rapidly evolving AI and compute-intensive data center requirements.”

Illinois-based Molex specializes in manufacturing electronic, electrical, and fiber optic connectivity products, and is one of the biggest players in the space. It is a subsidiary of Koch Industries, which purchased the company in 2013 for $7.2 billion.

CAEPlus was founded two years ago. BoundaryCool is a direct-to-chip liquid cooling system, which the vendor says offers improved thermal performance via a “proprietary active cooling method that enhances fluid-surface interaction at the microscale.”

The partnership with Molex will enable CAEPlus to further develop its technology.

“CAEPlus was founded to address the rapid pace of change in data center cooling requirements by enabling an entirely new class of active liquid cooling solutions,” said Milad Bashirzadeh, founder and CEO of CAEPlus.

“In addition to its investment, Molex brings deep engineering expertise and a strong track record of helping scale innovative technologies. We are excited to work together in advancing our proprietary cooling technology and meet unrelenting industry requirements for higher levels of performance and efficiency.”