Ecolab buys CoolIT Systems for US$4.75 billion, capping Calgary startup’s rise in data‑centre cooling
Ecolab’s US$4.75B purchase of CoolIT Systems is Alberta’s largest tech sale, capping a Calgary startup’s rise from a basement lab to data‑centre cooling leader.
CoolIT Systems’ sale to Ecolab for US$4.75 billion closes a long chapter for a Calgary company that began in a homeowner’s basement and grew into a global supplier of liquid cooling for high‑performance servers. The CoolIT sale, announced in March 2026, follows more than two decades of product pivots, repeated fundraising rounds and partnerships that moved the firm from gaming PC accessories into data‑centre infrastructure. The transaction — which follows KKR’s 2023 investment that scaled the business — positions CoolIT inside a multinational with the capital to expand its direct liquid‑cooling technology at hyperscaler scale.
Founding story in Calgary and early invention
Three friends and neighbours — Alexander “Sandy” Scott, Brydon Gierl and Jason Myers — launched CoolIT Systems in the early 2000s with research and manufacturing conducted out of Scott’s northeast Calgary home. The business was incorporated on Feb. 27, 2001, and early efforts focused on liquid cooling to tame overheating in overclocked gaming processors. What began as weekend tinkering and basement prototypes evolved into a patent‑driven engineering effort that would later target servers and data‑centre racks.
Ecolab acquisition and deal specifics
U.S. materials and services giant Ecolab agreed in March 2026 to acquire CoolIT for US$4.75 billion in cash, a deal that KKR, CoolIT’s private equity owner since 2023, negotiated after a period of rapid revenue growth. Ecolab, with a market capitalization near US$105 billion, said it expects CoolIT to deliver roughly US$550 million in sales over the subsequent 12 months. The purchase is being hailed as the largest sale of a technology company in Alberta’s history and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026.
Technology shift from desktops to data‑centres
CoolIT’s original product play focused on liquid cooling for gaming PCs, an idea that met early skepticism because it mixed fluids with electronics. The company systematically expanded its scope, developing direct liquid cooling (DLC) architectures for servers and racks that reduce power consumption and manage heat from modern chips. Strategic collaborations, including factory installations for major OEMs starting in 2017, helped validate the technology for enterprise and hyperscale data‑centre customers as demand rose for AI‑driven compute capacity.
Financial struggles, fundraising and pivotal turns
Despite technical promise, CoolIT weathered repeated cash shortages and lean years that left the business repeatedly on the brink of collapse. Leadership recalled at least one moment when the company had “48 hours” before the CEO nearly pulled the plug, only to be rescued by last‑minute investment. Over the years the company executed more than 20 financing rounds, and early shareholders and local investors repeatedly staked the enterprise until it found traction with larger commercial customers and scale investment from KKR in 2023.
Growth, workforce and manufacturing footprint
Under private equity ownership and CEO leadership that followed the founders’ era, CoolIT expanded to roughly 600 employees and multiple manufacturing sites, including operations in Calgary, Vietnam and China. The company built a 40,000‑square‑foot Liquid Lab Innovation Centre in Calgary and broadened its product line to serve not only high‑performance computing but also enterprise and colocation data centres. That manufacturing and engineering scale was central to Ecolab’s interest and to CoolIT’s ability to meet hyperscaler demand.
Employee payouts and local impact
Following the announcement of the sale, CoolIT staged a large employee celebration and unveiled a substantial cash‑out program for staff shareholders. Payout terms reported by company leadership included a full year of salary for employees hired this year, with a minimum payment of $35,000, while long‑tenured employees who joined before 2016 received multiples of their annual wages with minimum thresholds near $490,000. Company executives described the payouts as life‑changing for many employees and highlighted the local economic benefit of the exit for Calgary workers.
CoolIT’s journey from a backyard firepit boardroom to a multibillion‑dollar exit underscores how a focused technical solution can scale when matched with market timing and industrial partners. The sale to Ecolab positions CoolIT’s liquid‑cooling systems for accelerated deployment into larger data‑centre fleets as AI and high‑density computing continue to raise cooling requirements. For the founders, investors and the Calgary tech community, the transaction offers both financial reward and a case study in persistence, engineering iteration and the commercialisation of a once‑unconventional idea.
