Founded by Nikhil Dawda and Sandra Go, the startup has developed an exterior paint that reduces building temperatures by combining solar reflection with radiative cooling. Its coating reflects more than 95 per cent of incoming sunlight and emits heat at wavelengths that escape into space.
The company’s mission is timely. Rising temperatures, climate-driven demand for cooling, and the risk of costly downtime are driving up cooling-related costs across supermarkets, hospitals, and data centres. Emissiv argues that conventional air conditioning is inefficient at higher temperatures and adds to warming, making low-energy alternatives essential. Its technology is designed to help buildings stay cool while reducing energy use and carbon emissions.
Emissiv’s progress has been closely tied to The Greenhouse, Undaunted’s accelerator based at the Imperial Incubator in WestTech London, Hammersmith. The programme gives founders access to mentoring, a strong DeepTech network, lab space, and practical support to test and validate their ideas. For Emissiv, that support helped turn a student idea into a pre-seed startup in just 18 months. The founders met at Imperial during their MSc programmes and have used the ecosystem to move quickly from concept to market-ready product.
A major milestone for the company is its pilot at the Earl’s Court Development Company in London. Early results have been promising: the first pilot showed more than 30 degrees of roof temperature reduction, with predicted cooling energy savings of around 20 per cent and the potential to enable 24/7 cooling. Emissiv now plans to gather more summer data from both rooftops and building interiors to strengthen its performance models and demonstrate the technology at greater scale.
For The Greenhouse, Emissiv is a strong example of the accelerator’s model in action: helping founders prototype quickly, win pilots, and build investor-ready businesses. The programme is sector-agnostic, provides up to £20k in equity-free grant funding, and connects startups to Imperial’s facilities such as Royce and the Advanced Hackspace.
Emissiv’s win highlights how Imperial in Hammersmith is helping shape practical climate solutions with real-world impact.
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