Meet Jonathan Koifman, Co-Founder & CEO of FrostForge SA

Tell us About FrostForge SA

FrostForge turns sunlight into ice. As the planet warms, food spoils, vaccines fail, and data centres overheat. Our grid-free system makes 160kg of ice daily—no electricity, no emissions—enough to preserve a village’s fish, store 65K vaccines, or cool 50K AI queries in an accelerating $400Bn market.

Please give some more details of your startup story: when/why you founded it, your business, team size, etc.

We launched in 2024 to do something cool, and address a gap that goes unnoticed. Driven by a small, agile Geneva-based team of 2, we blend engineering design with renewable markets experience to deliver an actionable, quick-response solution. With more than 14 years in renewables, we wanted to make something that has an impact now, rather than 5-10 years down the line.

Tell us more about your plans for 2025 and what is your long-term vision.

We’ve bootstrapped through our “validation” phase, and 2025 is where we run pilots – live demos of taking in solar heat and outputting ice.
Long-term, we will use this as a foundation to build solutions from ice to integrated cold rooms, air conditioning, and data centre refrigeration systems… decoupling cooling from the grid.

What has been the biggest success that you have achieved in your startup?

Within 6 months of founding, we moved from an idea on a whiteboard to making ice in the lab – TRL 4 reached, all bootstrapped.
We’ve also secured CHF 100k in private investment, CHF 10k from VentureKick, and LOIs in Switzerland and Kenya.

If you could do it all over again, what would you do differently? What are your biggest learnings

Apply for public funding and grants much earlier, and work more closely with universities to qualify for more. Since investors are all asking to see workable pilots first, we would have accelerated to that point quicker.

What motivates you to continue your business every day?

The more people we talk to about grid-free cooling, the more we realise how important it is for our industries, medical and agricultural worlds… and deep tech.

With one innovation concept, we can benefit a wide range of verticals, combining both profits and ethical impact. Could there be a better reason?

One piece of advice for someone who is just starting out with their startup?

Don’t do it alone. Have a solid co-founder (at least) that doesn’t always agree with you, you don’t always agree with, and trust implicitly to get their piece of the job done.

Having a foil has been key to our growth, messaging, and ensuring that we can GSD.

What does it mean to you to be a member of the Swiss Startup Association? 

Being in Switzerland is hugely important. It’s a hub for innovation, with capital, need, and can be a showcase location for real impact. It’s also where I grew up and developed my core sustainability and business values.

The SSA opens visibility for the impact FrostForge will deliver, as well as access to the financing we need to accelerate our vision.

Would you recommend joining the Swiss Startup Association? Why?

Yes! Events. Visibility. Focused investor base… It’s definitely what any ambitious startup would need throughout their life cycle.

Is there anything that we haven’t asked you that you would like to share with us/the community?

More to come… watch this space

 

Connect with Jonathan on LinkedIn!

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About the Swiss Startup Association

The Swiss Startup Association (SSA) is the umbrella organisation and the voice of Swiss startups. As a sector-independent non-profit organisation, the SSA gives startups a strong voice vis-à-vis politics, business, and works to improve the conditions for startups in Switzerland.
Beyond its political engagement, the SSA fosters a community for startups, recognizing the unique challenges they face. Through networking opportunities, educational sessions, and practical services, the SSA collaborates with industry partners to offer tailored support and valuable resources to guide founders on their entrepreneurial journey.

Join the Swiss Startup Association! Tap into our member benefits, the comprehensive Investor List and get full access to our events. By becoming an SSA Member you enjoy discounted tickets to our Big Founders Dinners and the SSA Founders Day.