Madrone

Maximizing compute via hyper-efficient cooling

Y CombinatorSpring 2026ActiveIndustrialsEnergyArtificial IntelligenceHardwareClimateAdvanced Materials

What they do

Problem

Data centers, especially in hot climates like Texas, consume excessive power and water for cooling, limiting compute efficiency and increasing operating costs.

Solution

Madrone builds dew-point-based cooling systems for data centers that reduce cooling power and water use by about 30%.

Who it's for

Data center operators and hyperscale cloud providers building or operating facilities in hot regions.

Founders

Akshay Trikha

Founder

Founder/CEO at Madrone, where I'm making data center cooling more efficient. Prev. trained models with millions of inferences at QuantumScape, and to predict material properties at Berkeley.

Erik Meike

Founder

Founder at Madrone (YC P26). Previously Hardware Development Engineer at Apple, working on iPhone wireless power technologies across multiple years. Started career with early-stage hardware/robotics experience at JITx (automated PCB design) and PRENAV (autonomous quadcopter monitoring). Harvey Mudd Engineering.