Vertiv acquires Strategic Thermal Labs to strengthen liquid cooling portfolio
April 28, 2026
Vertiv acquires Strategic Thermal Labs to strengthen liquid cooling portfolio
Vertiv, a global provider of digital infrastructure and power technology, has acquired Strategic Thermal Labs (STL), a Texas-based specialist in cold-plate design, in a move to bolster its capabilities in liquid cooling for high-density data center environments. The acquisition addresses a growing industry challenge: as artificial intelligence and high-performance computing workloads drive power densities to unprecedented levels, effective thermal management at the chip level has become a critical factor in system design and reliability.
The deal brings STL’s proven cold-plate design, server-side liquid cooling, and high-density thermal validation expertise into Vertiv’s portfolio. Based in Georgetown, Texas, STL operates from a 60,000-square-foot (5,574 sqm) office and manufacturing facility. The company was founded by CEO Austin Shelnutt to address the cooling needs of the electronics industry and has increasingly focused on liquid cooling in recent years, particularly after receiving investment from Carrier Ventures in April 2024. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Vertiv said the acquisition “extends Vertiv’s thermal-chain strategy by strengthening engineering capability at the interface between server-side liquid cooling and supporting infrastructure — an increasingly critical factor in high-density, liquid-cooled environments supporting AI and high-performance computing workloads.” Scott Armul, chief product and technology officer at Vertiv, emphasized the strategic importance of the deal: “As AI and high‑performance computing push power densities to unprecedented levels, understanding and solving heat challenges at the chip level becomes critical to system design, performance, and reliability. STL brings deep expertise and proven capability in addressing some of the industry’s most demanding chip-level density and thermal problems, strengthening Vertiv’s ability to emulate and validate system-level solutions and enabling customers to improve performance and lifecycle outcomes in liquid-cooled environments.”
Industry analysts view the acquisition as part of a broader trend among infrastructure providers to integrate chip-level cooling expertise as data center operators increasingly adopt liquid cooling to manage the heat generated by next-generation processors and accelerators. By adding STL’s capabilities, Vertiv is positioning itself to offer more comprehensive thermal management solutions that span from the server chip to the facility-level cooling infrastructure. This move follows Vertiv’s acquisition of data center cooling firm ThermoKey in March 2026, signaling a continued push to strengthen its position in the liquid cooling market.
Source: datacenterdynamics
