Salvage Tesla packs are industrial infrastructure waiting to be claimed. ReChill is the first thing we build with them.
Cold Chain×Circular Battery
$2.5KEffective pack cost (internally consumed)
$10KRetail pack price (today's market)
3-5yrArbitrage window before it closes
$250KRound target friendly common equity
↓ 21 SLIDES · 19 SECTIONS · 1 ASK ↓
02 / 21
01 — Thesis
Industrial freezers are large because their motors are small.
Blast freezers occupy hundreds of square feet because their compressors are sized for three-phase commercial power — not because thermodynamics require it.
A salvaged Tesla Model 3 motor delivers 75 kW continuous, 210 kW peak, full variable speed, 96% efficiency. $1,500-$3,000.
Drive a CO₂ transcritical compressor with it and you have an industrial freezer's capability in a domestic refrigerator's footprint. Engineered for 200K-mile automotive duty; in freezer service at 10% load, it outlasts the facility.
→ The constraint is form factor, not physics.
03 / 21
02 — Market Baseline
What shrimp processors run today.
Reference systems. Energy varies with load match and refrigerant.
Air Blast Tunnel
Static batch, finfish-typical
Capacity5 MT/batch
Installed160 kW
Energy/MT~2,325 kWh
CapEx$250-400K
IQF Spiral Freezer
Ammonia, continuous belt
Capacity1-3 MT/hr
Installed220 kW
Energy/MT150-180 kWh
CapEx$600K-1.2M
IQF Tunnel (Optimar-class)
Wide belt, ammonia, shrimp-spec
Capacity14 MT / 23h
Installed~140 kW
Energy/MT90-100 kWh
CapEx$450-750K
ReChill C20
20ft container · M3 motor + CO₂
Capacity1.5-2 MT/hr
Installed85 kW
Energy/MT55-70 kWh
CapEx$180-280K
Why this works
Incumbents hit their spec only at optimal load. Under-load drops efficiency 50%+. ReChill's variable-speed motor matches load in real time — 55-70 kWh/MT across the real duty cycle, not just nameplate.
04 / 21
03 — Reference Unit
The ReChill C20
Complete IQF shrimp freezing in a 20-foot ISO container. Drops on a pad, plugs into 480V/100A, runs.
Thermal Plant
75 kW
Tesla M3 IPMSynRM motor driving Bitzer CO₂ compressor
Continuous75 kW
Peak (blast)140 kW
RefrigerantCO₂ (R-744)
Floor temp−45°C
Efficiency96%
Process Chamber
12m belt
Folded-path tunnel, VFD-driven impingement fans
Belt width900 mm
Effective length12 m
Throughput1.5-2 MT/hr
Freeze time8-12 min
Air velocity4-7 m/s
Container
20ft ISO
High-cube; insulated panel; integral I/O ports
External6.1×2.4×2.9m
Internal33 m³
Insulation200mm PIR
Ship weight~9,500 kg
Install< 1 day
C20 — Section View
05 / 21
04 — Product Ladder
One core. Three scales.
Same drive system, refrigerant, software, parts. Customers scale by adding containers, not replacing equipment.
Relative footprint, drawn to scale
PILOT
C10 · 10-foot
Platform:2× Chevy Bolt drive units + LG packs
500kg/hr
30kW thermal
$95-130K
Floor temp−50°C ·
50 kg blast3 min
Mobile, on-vessel, or remote site. The wedge product.
REFERENCE
C20 · 20-foot
Platform:2× Tesla Model 3 motors + LR packs
1.5-2MT/hr
75kW thermal
$180-280K
Floor temp−55°C (single) / −80°C (cascade) ·
200 kg blast6 min
Replaces a mid-size IQF spiral freezer. Where the volume sales live.
PRODUCTION
C40 · 40-foot
Platform:3× Tesla Model S drive units + S/X packs
3-5MT/hr
300kW thermal
$340-480K
Floor temp−90°C cascade, −120°C peak ·
1 MT blast5 min
Cryogenic regime. Enables true vitrification freezing for premium products that command 2-3× pricing.
FLEET
N × C40
Add containers to scale. Single failure ≠ plant outage. Linear capacity. Fleet-managed.
Platform-Agnostic
Bolt at C10, M3 at C20, Model S/X at C40 reflect cost-per-kW, not engineering dependencies. As supply shifts (Hyundai, Lightning, Rivian), the menu expands. Software and refrigerant cycle stay constant.
Designed for 150%, Operated at 60-80%
Every load-bearing system sized for 150% of nameplate and run at 60-80%. Headroom is the architecture. Incumbents undersize and run hard because capex forces them to. We oversize because our inputs are cheap. Automotive-grade components have a vacation here.
The Freezer Is the Easier Job
Phoenix summers, regen braking, 200-mile range, pothole shock — harder work in worse conditions than any freezer asks. If it survives the car, it thrives in the freezer.
Strategic angle
Traditional IQF sizes once, at install. ReChill plants grow with the business — add a C20 in week one, two more six months later, swap a failed unit overnight. Refrigeration becomes fleet-managed, not capital-projected.
06 / 21
05 — Over-Batteried On Purpose
Every unit ships with 10× the battery it needs.
A C20 draws 75 kWh/hr. We ship it with a 5-pack cartridge — ~375 kWh. Not inefficient. The architecture.
Cutaway of the top pack reveals 384 NCA cells, glycol thermal loop, and Tesla's native BMS bus — all already paid for by automotive engineering.
Why over-battery is the right answer
01
Charge cheap, run whenever
375 kWh means you charge off-peak ($0.08/kWh in CA) and run all day. Peak rates ($0.42/kWh CA summer) stop mattering.
02
Grid-independent
5 hours of nameplate freezing off-grid. PG&E PSPS shutoffs become non-events. Inland sites deploy without service upgrades.
03
Cells batched, not stressed
75 kWh pack rated 200 kW peak, running at 15 kW average, sees 2,000+ cycles before degradation. 8-10 year life.
04
Hot-swap = zero downtime
A failing pack is one of five. Cartridge isolates it. Freezer runs on the other four. Swap overnight. The freezer never stops.
05
Inventory IS the cartridge
Every C20 in service is 375 kWh of conditioned, instrumented inventory on site — with known state of health.
06
Self-mobile
Tracked base moves the cartridge at 2-3 mph. Drives off the truck and into position. No forklift, no crane.
07
N+1 compressor pods
Same redundancy on the cooling side: 4-6 modular CO₂ pods, not one compressor. Pod failure ≠ system failure. Swap in <2 hours.
The Diagnostic Loop
Every incoming pack does productive work while being tested.
1
Salvage pack arrives via chilled reefer backhaul at 2-5°C — the safest state for lithium transport. Runaway risk drops below 10°C. The reefer powered itself with the cargo.
2
Held in chilled bay at facility (5-10°C, existing refrigeration). Zero conditioning energy — it arrived ready.
3
Plugged into diagnostic harness, discharged through a ReChill compressor over 6-8 hours. The freezer cools shrimp. The pack reveals its SoH.
Graded: A → ReChill inventory, B → wholesale ESS, C → second-life, D → certified recycling.
The economic point
Every other battery testing operation pays for energy and gets nothing back. Ours cools actual product for an actual customer. Diagnostics are free; the pack pays for its own qualification.
The architecture
Over-batterying isn't a bug — it's the unlock. The cartridge is power supply, grid arbitrage asset, self-mobile delivery vehicle, battery inventory, AND diagnostic substrate. Each function expensive alone. Bundled, they share infrastructure five ways.
07 / 21
06 — Refrigeration Becomes Programmable
Industrial freezers are dumb appliances. This one isn't.
Industrial freezers have four operator controls: setpoint, on/off, defrost timer, alarm. Variable-speed motors and modular pods unlock real-time, per-zone, programmable thermal control.
ReChill OI · C20-2034 · Live
SHIFT 02 · 14:38:42 PST
SETPOINT · 85%−48°C TARGET
EFFICIENCY · 62.4 kWh/MT↓ 30.7% VS SPEC
PACK SoC · 73%5h 12m AT NAMEPLATE
ANOMALY · ZONE 3SUGGEST +15% DIAL
Industry Today
Fixed-speed, single-zone, blind
One setpoint, set at install
One zone, one airflow pattern
8-12 sensors total
Defrost on a timer, not on demand
Operator has no insight mid-batch
Product temp inferred from air temp
Service call required for any change
ReChill
Variable, multi-zone, observed
Setpoint dial 60-105% in real time
N pods = N independently-controlled zones
50-200 sensors per unit (see below)
Defrost triggered by frost detection
Live efficiency display mid-batch
Per-section temperature maps via thermal imaging
Operator adjusts on the fly without service
What this unlocks for the operator
◐
Spot-tune any zone
Section running 2°C warm? Dial that zone up 15%. The rest of the line stays at baseline. Impossible with single-compressor systems.
⇄
Throughput vs. efficiency
Line backed up? Run hot for 20 min. Slow? Coast at peak efficiency. Operator owns the tradeoff in real time.
◷
Off-peak arbitrage
System suggests when to run hot (cheap power) and when to coast (peak). Operator approves. Energy bill drops further.
◇
Product-aware curves
Operator picks shrimp size and density; system tunes the freeze curve. Switch products mid-shift, adapts automatically.
◬
API to plant MES
Plants integrate ReChill telemetry into their stack. Build their own dashboards. Automate against conveyor sensors.
◑
Fleet learning
Anomaly patterns from one plant teach the model what to look for elsewhere. Every customer benefits from every customer.
Phase 2 · Operational Intelligence
The sensor opportunity hiding inside the freezer.
Industrial refrigeration runs on shockingly old instrumentation. The same arbitrage logic that makes batteries cheap makes modern automotive sensors cheap. A C20 can carry 50-200 sensors at BOM under $2K vs incumbents at 8-12 sensors for $5-15K.
400+
Data channels in the pack at zero cost
10×
Sensor count vs. incumbents at lower BOM
SaaS
Operational intelligence as separate revenue line
The pack already contains 400+ instrumented channels — we just listen. Tesla's BMS broadcasts per-cell voltages (384/pack), thermal sensors, current shunts, contactor states, isolation resistance. The inverter broadcasts RPM, torque, IGBT temps, encoder position. All over CAN, well-documented by Openinverter. No additional sensors. Already paid for by Tesla.
What this unlocks that incumbents can't: in-situ impedance spectroscopy (AC injection via the inverter detects cell damage), thermal mapping via voltage gradients, and vibration sensing via motor current ripple. Same hardware that runs the freezer.
HACCP-critical measurements remain on plant sensors; ReChill's dense array handles telemetry, predictive maintenance, and fleet learning. Phase 2, ~24 months out. The roadmap, not the prototype.
The deeper point
Incumbents can't add this. Fixed-speed compressors can't be dialed. Single-zone systems can't be zoned. Their PLCs can't ingest modern sensor rates. ReChill's architecture is the prerequisite for the interface — the interface is the prerequisite for the software business that compounds after the hardware arbitrage closes.
08 / 21
06 — Geographic Liberation
Shrimp plants exist where they have to.Not where they want to.
Processing clusters where landings, three-phase power, and labor overlap. Remove the power constraint and the geography dissolves.
Constraint architecture
What containerized + self-powered enables
⚓
On-vessel processing
C10 in the hold lets a 60-ft shrimper IQF at sea. Sale price 2-3× at dock vs. fresh-on-ice.
🏝
Remote landings
Small villages truck fresh shrimp hours to processors. ReChill brings the processor to the dock.
🌱
Aquaculture sites
Farms in Belize, Honduras, Ecuador, rural India — no industrial power. ReChill runs on solar + storage.
↻
Seasonal mobility
Follow the season. Roll in for the run, roll out at end. Processing fleet, not plant.
⚡
Disaster response
When a regional plant goes offline, ReChill drops in within 72 hours. Industry resilience tool.
▲
New geographies
Domestic processing where none exists. PNW oyster/dungeness, Maine lobster, Alaskan salmon overflow.
The bigger thesis
Current seafood processing assumes fixed infrastructure, variable supply. ReChill inverts it: fixed supply, variable processing. Not a better freezer — a different industry structure.
09 / 21
07 — Upstream Supply
The battery wholesale tier is its own business.
ReChill needs M3 packs. Buying salvage cars and parting them is structurally cheaper than retail packs — and the byproducts have their own buyers.
Live market signal
Copart & IAAI Model 3 inventory is continuous. Front-end collisions (the common loss type) leave packs and rear drive units intact.
$5-15K
Salvage Vehicle at Auction
$6.5K floor
Used 75kWh Pack Resale
$13.5K ceiling
Tested + Warranty Pack Resale
$1.5-3K
Rear Drive Unit (motor + inverter)
Source data: Copart M3 salvage (continuous, 2026). Aftermarket pack pricing per Electrics Auto and EVTV. OEM pack replacement: $13-16K + $2-3K labor.
The Sandbag
Every number below assumes $10K/vehicle — well above Copart median. Still pencils with no sourcing optimization or volume discounts.
Full-vehicle economics at $10K cost
Salvage Model 3 LR purchase
Conservative ceiling price
−$10,000
Transport + auction fees
All-in landed cost
−$1,200
Pack tested, certified, resold
To DIY EV, ESS builders
+$9,500
Drive unit + inverter
To EV conversion shops
+$2,500
Body panels, screens, interior
Wholesale to parts buyers — see breakdown ↓
+$3,000
Drivetrain, susp., misc.
Scrap & parts
+$800
Margin per vehicle
+$4,600
Interior + Parts Breakdown
Tesla parts have high secondary demand. OEM prices are punishing. A salvage interior strips into:
Front seats (pair, OEM 8-way power)$450-900
Rear bench seat assembly$300-500
15.4" main touchscreen (un-VIN-locked)$400-900
Door panels (set of 4)$400-600
Steering wheel + column$200-400
HVAC heat pump assembly$400-800
Glass roof + sunroof panels$300-600
Body panels (fender, bumper, hood)$500-1,200
Total interior + body realized$3,000-5,900
Channels: eBay Motors (60%), Craigslist + local salvage (30%), wholesale to Tesla indie shops (10%). Sources: live eBay, Patterson, Benzeen, Ingenext, Donut Auto Parts (2024-2026).
The Real Picture
That margin is the worst-case sourcing price. Auction medians run $5-8K. Volume relationships, off-auction channels, and insurance-direct buying push acquisition lower. At 200 vehicles/year, even sandbagged: $900K+ standalone battery margin.
Selling the rest of the car offsets most of acquisition. $4-10K BOM advantage per freezer. Permanent.
Scale economics
Y1
50 vehicles
$230K
Learning curve, single yard
Y2
200 vehicles
$920K
Volume sourcing, optimized teardown
Y3
500 vehicles
$2.3M+
Insurance partnerships, regional dominance
The Logistics Match
Empty reefer trailers run the same route in reverse.
Reefers delivering processed shrimp inland run their return legs empty. Salvage yards holding Tesla packs sit along those same corridors. The match is structural.
REVENUE LOAD · 25 packs · ~12,000 lb
25-30
M3 Packs per reefer
~$0
Marginal transport cost
$200K+
Pack inventory per trip
Bonus: Weight Distribution
Reefers run light on return. A 12,000 lb evenly-distributed backhaul improves trailer dynamics — reduces sway and tire wear. Processor benefits even if they don't buy packs.
01Processor's truck delivers product to West Coast distribution
↓
02Empty trailer routed to Bay Area or LA Copart yard on the way home
04Packs delivered to processor's dock — same loading bay, same crew, same equipment
Why this matters
Processors already have refrigerated logistics, dock infrastructure, hazmat handling, and chilled storage. Salvage pack transport needs exactly that. Looks unrelated; it's a cargo-flow inversion of their existing operation.
Why the Western Corridor
CA-NV-UT: highest-density salvage EV market, largest North American battery manufacturing footprint, regulatory environment already moving on EV stewardship.
Fig. 09 — Western CorridorCA · NV · UT — Inventory + Logistics
Tesla Gigafactory Nevada sits at the I-80 / I-15 cross. The same reefer trailers that move processed product run their return legs through every major Western salvage yard.
CA
The Supply
~750 Model 3s/mo through Copart + IAAI. Highest EV density, highest volume, most mature aftermarket. SB 615 successor defines national recycling standards from here.
NV
The Hub
Tesla Gigafactory at Sparks/Reno. I-80 × I-15. Tax-favorable. $0.06/kWh industrial power. Natural operations center.
UT
The Frontier
Growing EV market, no aftermarket competition, business-friendly regulation, cheap space. Satellite teardown site for the Mountain West.
The corridor advantage
One-day truck reach from Reno: LA 8h, Bay 4h, Sac 3h, SLC 8h, Phoenix 12h. With Gigafactory presence and NV tax structure, Sparks/Reno is the natural ops center.
10 / 21
08 — Regulatory Posture
Position as a certified EV battery handler from day one.
California is building the regulatory framework for EV battery recovery. Early participants who can credibly handle, test, and certify packs will be positioned for state programs and downstream offtake.
Where the policy is heading
SB 615 (Allen) passed in 2024, vetoed by Newsom on administrative grounds, reintroduced 2025-2026 with a Producer Responsibility Organization framework. The bill establishes:
Certified Qualified Recycler
CalRecycle + DTSC
A jointly-administered certification for facilities that can demonstrate proper EV battery handling, testing, and reuse pathways.
Safety trainingRequired
ReportingRequired
SoH disclosureEncouraged
Reuse priorityMandated
CBEP Recycling Fee (Active Now)
Jan 2026
SB 1215 imposes a 1.5% recycling fee on battery-embedded products (capped $15). Funds will reimburse authorized recyclers.
EffectiveJan 1, 2026
AdministeredCalRecycle
ReimbursementTo recyclers
The on-site recycling center pitch
Processors have the space, power, and waste-handling infrastructure to host EV battery testing as a partner site. ReChill brings:
→
Testing & certification capability for incoming packs
→
Routes to second-life (ReChill freezers, ESS partners)
→
Future state credit eligibility under SB 615 successor legislation
Why first matters
The CalRecycle/DTSC certification process will almost certainly grandfather early participants. Operators who establish credentialed handling in 2026-2027 will define what compliance looks like. Catching up later means competing for a credential we've already earned.
Caveat: No state dollar credits exist today. Framework is forming. Forward positioning, not current revenue. The asset is certified-handler status, not a check from Sacramento.
The Honest Pitch on Safety
Lithium fires happen. Storing salvage packs anywhere creates non-zero risk. A shrimp plant is the best place to host that risk — and chilled transport is the safest way to get packs there.
Chilled throughout — packs ride at 2-5°C, well below runaway
Industrial fire suppression on site
Concrete-walled buildings designed for hose-down
24/7 safety-trained staffing
Cold storage continuously suppresses runaway
Hazmat protocols already in place for refrigerants/chemicals
Coastal/dock locations with rapid water access
Every other lithium logistics operation transports and stores at ambient. We're cold throughout — by accident of what the business already is. The traits that make a facility right for cold-chain make it right for battery logistics. Not coincidence — partnership.
We Even Thought of This · Insurance
The paper tiger nobody wants to acknowledge.
Insurers price salvage lithium as "novel risk." That's their job. The paper says these batteries are dangerous.
Then the underwriter drives home in a Model 3.
Every objection to running a salvage pack in a controlled industrial setting applies more strongly to running one under a person's seat at 70 mph next to a 15-gallon gas tank. The insurable risk is structurally lower than what every commuter accepts daily.
Our actual posture
Master Vendor Liability — $1-2M coverage, $10-25K/yr early-stage premium. Standard for industrial OEMs.
Specialist broker handling industrial OEMs. Underwriters who know lithium pricing.
Vendor-managed equipment option for risk-averse processors — ReChill carries risk, not customer.
Documented safety stack — chilled-throughout + N+1 redundancy + automotive duty data + cold operation. Most safety-documented refrigeration design in the industry.
Real workstream — $10-20K and 3-6 months in Year 1. Paper tiger, neutralized with paperwork.
11 / 21
09 — Business Architecture
Three revenue lines. One operation.
Every M3 through the facility generates revenue three ways. Pack goes into a freezer, into a wholesale buyer's hands, or into the recycling stream — whichever has best margin that week.
Line 01 — Hardware
ReChill Freezer Sales
C20 units to shrimp & seafood processors. $180-280K per unit. Service contracts +8-12%/yr. Customers scale by adding containers.
Year-3: 25 units installed · $5-7M revenue
Line 02 — Components
M3 Pack & Drive Wholesale
Tested Tesla M3 packs to DIY EV, ESS, aftermarket. Drive units to conversion shops. Parts to body shops.
Year-3: 200 vehicles · $1.2M margin
Line 03 — Stewardship
EV Battery Recovery & Logistics
Certified handling, testing, decommissioning. Reverse logistics on processor's existing reefer fleet moves salvage on empty return legs. Pre-positioning for state credits.
Each line strengthens the others. Freezer business creates demand for tested packs. Wholesale funds the inventory we'd need anyway. Recycling status protects supply as regulation arrives.
12 / 21
10 — Component Availability
Why this is buildable in 2026.
Motor supply
Salvage M3 drive units abundant. Openinverter gives production-grade CAN control without OEM dependence.
CO₂ refrigeration
CO₂ transcritical is standard in European supermarkets (Bitzer, Dorin, Frascold). Non-toxic, non-flammable, near-zero GWP. Forward-compatible under AIM Act HFC phase-down.
Container conversion
ISO container mods are commodity in every port city. Reefer panels, food-grade finishes, standard I/O — off-the-shelf.
Market pull
Processor energy doubled in five years. Electricity is the largest non-product P&L line. A 40% cut is existential, not nice-to-have.
Capital posture
Processors want $200K modules in 8 weeks, not $1M projects in 18 months. Container form matches buyer behavior.
13 / 21
11 — Buildable Tomorrow
What gets built. In what order.
01 — 90 Days
C10 Bench Prototype
25-30 kW plant. Single M3 motor. Off-shelf CO₂ compressor. Validates motor control and freeze time on shrimp samples.
Budget$45-60K
GateThesis valid?
02 — 6 Months
C10 Field Prototype
Containerized at a partner shrimp plant. Real load, measured kWh/MT against their baseline.
Budget$95-130K
AssetCustomer data
03 — 9 Months
C20 First Production
Full reference design, sold or leased to partner. Documented BOM, QA, service. First 5 vehicles parted out.
Budget$180-220K
Revenue$250K + $30K parts
04 — 18 Months
Production × 10 + Cert.
Manufacturing partner. Component stockpile. First seven customers signed pre-build. Apply for CalRecycle Certified Recycler.
Budget$1.6-2.2M
Revenue$2.4-2.8M
05 — 24 Months
C40 Engineering Validation
Cascade dual-motor. Fault-tolerant. Large processors >3 MT/hr. Wholesale battery business at 200+ vehicles/yr.
Budget$280-340K
Run-rate$6-8M
The minimum viable test
$180K and 90 days gets a working bench prototype processing real shrimp at a partner's facility, measured against their baseline. Thesis is right or wrong by month three. Every dollar after that scales a validated product, not a search.
14 / 21
12 — The Ask
The window is small. The price is small.
Most see used Tesla packs as DIY scrap. A handful of us see the cheapest industrial infrastructure ever built. 3-5 years before someone large notices.
$250K, common equity, friendly. Priced low on purpose — the point isn't to raise much, it's to start fast while packs are still mispriced.
The Round
Target raise
$250K
Instrument
Common equity
Round size
Friendly · capped
Pre-money
Friendly. TBD with lawyer.
Build timeline · packs in hand
Close in 4-6 weeks with 2-5 tested packs on the bench:
Mechanical assembly. Mount motor + compressor. Plumb, pressure-test, evacuate, charge. Wire HV interface with precharge and contactors.
W5-6
First runs. Cold-start. Validate pressure curves. Tune speed against thermal demand. First freezing test.
W7-10
Instrumentation + iteration. Logging. Tune control loops. Extended cycles. Document energy/kg vs. commercial baseline.
W11-13
Validation report. Clean data, performance vs. baseline, cost-per-MT. Photos, video, third-party witness from a real processor.
90 days
~$15K parts. Bottleneck: compressor lead time + CO₂ coordination. Both manageable.
If the data validates
R1 investors get pro-rata rights on the next round. Multiple paths: bootstrap on revenue, strategic capital from a refrigeration incumbent, traditional Series A, or partners with EU/APAC presence. R1 is the prototype data. The data is the optionality at R2.
Why R2 matters: the European upside
EU industrial energy runs 2-4× US. Regulatory pressure on emissions is structurally higher (CBAM, EU ETS, country carbon taxes). Spain is the largest EU seafood processor; Norway, Iceland, UK, Denmark are majors. The C20 that saves $30K/yr in the US saves €90-120K/yr in Germany.
2-4×EU energy vs US
50%Larger refrigeration TAM
2027EU battery passport law
EU is visible upside, not committed roadmap. R2 captures it via the best path. R1 pro-rata gets the multiplier either way.
If the data doesn't validate
Round closes. Remaining funds return at cost. We learned cheaply that the thesis didn't hold. Downside bounded; upside asymmetric.
The signal we're betting on
Pack prices up = thesis correct, entry price was right. Flat = we have time. Down = better margins. No 3-year scenario where the supply side gets worse for us.
15 / 21
13 — The Bigger Picture
ReChill is the first.
Same insight — automotive-grade salvage, over-batteried thermal systems — supports four more businesses. Each spins out and runs independently as it matures. Family and trusted operators take what works.
01
ReChill
Industrial freezing
FUNDING NOW
02
Mobile Cooling
Battery-electric spot cooling rental
YEAR 1-2 · SPIN-OUT
03
Spa Lines
Mobile spa / wellness
PROTOTYPING
04
Restaurant Box
Vitrified cuisine appliance
YEAR 2-3
05
Home Thermal
Whole-house cascade refrigeration
YEAR 3+
Why this matters for your investment
R1 funds the first build. The shared infrastructure — salvage relationships, CalRecycle cert, motor-control IP, over-batteried platform — is reusable across every venture. Each future business launches with upstream supply already solved.
When a venture spins out, R1 investors get pro-rata participation on the spinout's first round. Early supporters back the operating chassis, not just the first product.
The operator angle
Multiple ventures = multiple operator seats. ReChill is mine. The Spa, Restaurant Box, Mobile Cooling, Home Thermal businesses are operable by family or trusted partners as each matures. Not a one-business pitch — a venture studio thesis backed by working infrastructure.
16 / 21
14 — Future Business 01
Mobile Cooling.
Same C10 chassis, different endpoint: air handling instead of freezing. Battery-electric spot cooling for offices, construction sites, film shoots, events — markets currently served by noisy diesel.
$800-2.5K
Current day-rate (diesel)
$0
Fuel cost (electric)
10-20
Unit fleet per metro
Why this works
○
Silent — no generator. Works on film sets where diesel is banned, in offices overnight, at outdoor weddings without ruining audio.
▲
No exhaust — runs indoors with no vent flue. Atlas Copco and MovinCool can't compete inside active office space; we can.
◇
Plug-in overnight recharge — depot fleet, app booking. Customer sees: unit shows up, works 12 hours, leaves.
⊞
Same supply chain as ReChill — packs, motor, compressor, controls. Shared service inventory. Marginal cost far below a standalone.
Spin-out timing
Spin out as early as Month 12. Hardware is a C10 with a different endpoint — proving ReChill's C10 proves Mobile Cooling's. Family operator runs the fleet; ReChill licenses the platform.
The market reality
Mobile spot cooling is a billion-dollar US market served by aging diesel customers actively hate. The rental industry is overdue for an electric incumbent. No new tech — repackage the C10 and ship to a different customer.
17 / 21
15 — Future Business 02
Spa Lines.
Mobile spa / hydrotherapy / wellness on the same battery platform. Tesla pack energy density that no current mobile spa achieves. Market is real, mostly towed gas generators, ready for an electric-first incumbent.
375kWh
Stored energy (same 5-pack cartridge)
8-12hrs
Spa operation per charge
$8-25K
Target unit price (varies by tier)
What ReChill's infrastructure unlocks here
○
Ozone nanobubble treatment — chemical-free sanitization. Drinkable-quality water continuously, no chlorine/bromine residue.
Precision temperature control — battery heat pumps move from 38°C to 4°C in under 15 minutes. Contrast therapy regimens fixed-temp spas can't do.
⊞
Folding hex form factor — staved redwood + CLT panels fold to 1/6 size. Polyester ratchet hoop tension (cheaper than steel banding).
◊
Stratified thermal storage — hot/cold reservoirs share a heat pump loop. Heating the spa comes from cooling the plunge. Both free if either's running.
Soak
$8-12K
Single hot tub, basic ozone treatment, residential
Range
$15-18K
Hot + cold plunge, full nanobubble treatment, contrast therapy
Service
$22-25K
Multi-station mobile, event/resort rental, full thermal range
Why it works
Wellness is large, premium-priced, willing to pay for "advanced." Nanobubble + battery + precision-temp is a credible next-gen pitch Jacuzzi, Bullfrog, Hot Spring can't easily match. ReChill supply delivers batteries at half the cost of any other entrant.
18 / 21
16 — Future Business 03
Restaurant Box.
Countertop appliance that takes vitrified cassettes (shipped overnight from a central commissary) and produces restaurant-quality dishes at home in 3-5 minutes. Vitrified ingredients + cooking robotics + high-power induction — combination is novel.
The thing it does that nothing else does
1
Vitrified ingredient arrives frozen at -80°C. Cell structure perfectly preserved. Cassette format with QR-tagged recipe profile.
2
Robotic temper brings the product to optimal cooking entry temperature in 90 seconds using controlled IR + cool airflow.
3
High-current induction sear at 1100°C for 4-6 seconds — Maillard chemistry without overcooking the interior.
4
Partial vacuum rest (0.5 atm for 20 seconds) pulls sear aromatics into the surface; protein structure stays at temperature target.
5
Plate-finish with robotic sauce dispense, garnish placement, foam injection if recipe requires.
Reference dish: Mikuni-style BBQ Tuna
Cold center, charred surface, sub-4 min at home. Currently impossible without restaurant equipment and trained cooks. Tap-to-cook.
The business model
Appliance
$3-5K
One-time hardware purchase
Cassettes
$15-40
Per dish, subscription or à la carte
Margin
60-75%
Software-business unit economics
Why ReChill enables this
Vitrification at scale needs cryogenic refrigeration. ReChill's C40 is the commissary kitchen for the cassette stream. One stack, two customer-facing products: vitrified seafood to processors, vitrified portions to homes.
19 / 21
17 — Future Business 04
Home Thermal Services.
"Central plant + distributed evaporators" applied to residential. One cascade heat pump in the utility room serves cold (fridge, freezer, blast chiller, wine, ice) and heat (hot water, radiant floor, sous-vide) endpoints. Energy moves between zones; only net imbalance is purchased.
Distinct from ReChill's CO₂-only architecture: Home benefits from multi-stage cascade (−80°C floor) because the cool capabilities (vitrification, cryo-milling, sub-zero fermentation) justify the complexity. Industrial needs −50°C; home enthusiasts want the full range. Different products, different refrigerants.
What it replaces
Standalone fridge
→
Insulated cabinet + evaporator
Standalone freezer
→
Insulated cabinet + colder evaporator
Hot water heater (50 gal)
→
Inline heat exchanger from reject heat
Wine cellar
→
Precision-temp zone, ±0.1°C
Ice maker
→
Multi-format ice on demand
[Nothing today]
→
Residential blast chiller / vitrification cell
Customer journey
Y1: install central plant during renovation, connect first 2-3 endpoints. Y2-5: add endpoints as appliances die. Y5+: full integrated thermal infrastructure, dramatically lower whole-house energy, capabilities no neighbor has.
Estimated unit economics
Central plant install (full build)$25-40K
Per-endpoint addition$2-8K
Annual whole-house energy savings vs. conventional40-60%
Service / annual maintenance subscription$600-1200/yr
Why this is the latest, not the first
Needs a base of luxury customers committed to whole-house infrastructure. Brand-building is a 3-5 year exercise. ReChill funds the brand. Spa and Restaurant Box generate cultural permission. By Y4-5, home is a logical extension, not a cold-start.
20 / 21
18 — IP Posture
What we file before any pitch.
Provisional applications establish priority date and signal seriousness. $150 USPTO fee per provisional; ~$2-3K total with attorney review. Filed within 30 days of close.
01
Diagnostic-as-Cooling-Load
Characterizing electrochemical storage devices where the discharge load is a refrigeration compressor performing productive cooling. Method patent.
02
Over-Batteried Hot-Swap
Refrigeration with N parallel packs + isolation contactors, enabling live pack replacement during operation. Utility.
03
Self-Mobile Battery Cartridge
Tracked or wheeled multi-pack assembly with autonomous positioning for industrial energy infrastructure. Utility + design.
04
Cargo-Powered Reefer Transport
Refrigerated transport where the cargo (rechargeable storage) powers the refrigeration unit. Eliminates fuel during transit.
05
Salvage-to-Freezer Process
End-to-end method of EV teardown, battery testing, and integration into containerized refrigeration. Process patent.
Disclaimer: Patentability is USPTO's call, not the founder's. Provisional filings establish priority but don't guarantee grant. Full utility filings (~$10-15K each) follow at 12-month conversion.
21 / 21
19 — Personal
What this actually is.
I'm not pitching you because I need an investor. I'm pitching you because the window is open right now, and the people I trust enough to move fast with are you.
Used M3 packs are mispriced as industrial infrastructure. Most see scrap or DIY EV parts. A handful of us see the cheapest source of automotive-grade thermal-and-electrical infrastructure ever built. The mispricing closes the moment someone large notices. Three years, maybe five.
I want to be moving when it closes, not catching up.
What the money is honestly for
Bench prototype + IP
$100K
Real spend. The thing that proves it.
Inventory: 8-10 salvage vehicles
$75K
Packs go into prototype + freezer build + resale pipeline.
Tom quits his job money
$60K
Six months focused. I'd rather be honest about this than hide it in "operations."
Legal, formation, contingency
$15K
Real but boring.
Round target
$250K
Common equity. Lawyer-papered. Real stake.
Why you specifically
→
You'll tell me when I'm wrong in ways arm's-length investors won't. That's worth more than the capital.
→
You've known me long enough to evaluate the founder, not just the deck.
→
I have dozens of these ideas. Packs are cheap now. Enough to go around. Getting in early on the supply side is the whole game.
→
If this becomes big, upside is significant. If not, you've helped build the operating chassis future ideas plug into.
The version of success I'm playing for
This becomes the company the right operator leaves their current job to help run. The spinoffs become operating businesses that trusted partners and family can get behind.
Lucrative without being extractive. Built to outlast the founders.
I'm not trying to catch a unicorn. I'm trying to catch a wave that lifts the people in this room and their kids. That's the version of ambitious that fits me.
Couple of honest notes
On giving the ideas away: Yes, the deck describes more than one business. Not precious about it. The ideas aren't the moat — supply chain, operating relationships, speed of execution are. Anyone who copies has to build what I'm already building.
On tooling: Built with AI assistance (Claude). It's how I work now. Thinking is mine; writing speed is leveraged. You should know because that's how I'd run the company too — whatever tools make me faster, transparent about it.
On the gate: If the bench prototype fails the 90-day test against a real processor's baseline, round closes and remaining funds return at cost. That decision is one we make together.
Read the deck. Talk to each other. No clock from me.
— Tom
Ask the deck
Questions ReChill didn't cover?
An AI assistant with access to a fixed corpus about ReChill Systems. It answers in TSL8 format — restated question, what it knows, and what to defer to Tom on. Transparently AI, not a substitute for Tom.
Verify anything material with Tom directly
CHAT IS PASSWORD-GATED
Tom shares the password with people he wants to give chat access to. If you don't have it, ask him — or just read the deck.
Ready when you are
Ask about the unit economics, the BMS angle, the Western corridor, the patent posture, the spin-out logic — anything in the deck.