# An Investor Story: Building the roads of tomorrow without burning the fuel of the past 🌍🛣️ | Airthium (YC S17)

- Canonical URL: https://wefunder.com/feed/370682
- Entity ID: wefunder:feed_item:370682
- Published at: 2026-08-18 15:41:44 UTC
- Updated at: 2026-08-20 08:37:51 UTC

## Author
Franck Lahaye

## Subject
Airthium (YC S17)

## Content
Imagine burning up to 158 gallons (600 liters) of oil every hour just to make the asphalt needed to build a road.That is the reality one of our recent investors shared with us.He runs a road construction company in India. His asphalt plant produces about 100 tons per hour, and the stone and other materials used to make asphalt have to be heated to around 356°F (180°C).The machine pictured here is the massive rotating drum that heats those materials. Today, that heat comes from burning roughly 500 to 600 liters of liquid fuel every hour.In many parts of India, natural gas pipelines simply are not available. So road builders rely on fuels that can be delivered by truck, including conventional petroleum fuels and, in some cases, lower-cost oil produced from recycled tires.The roads still need to be built. Communities still need to be connected.But the way we produce that heat does not have to stay the same.This is exactly the kind of problem Airthium is built to solve.Our high-temperature heat pump is designed to deliver industrial heat in the 150 to 250°C (300 to 480°F) range, right where asphalt production operates.And we do not necessarily have to replace the existing burner overnight.A modular Airthium system could work alongside the existing fuel burner, providing part of the heat electrically while the burner supplies the rest.For example, a 500 kW Airthium system operating at a COP of 2.5 could deliver roughly 1.25 MW of heat, potentially reducing fuel consumption by around 20 to 30% at a plant of this size.As more electrical capacity becomes available, that percentage can grow.That matters commercially too. India has hundreds of fixed or long-lived asphalt plants, each consuming large quantities of fuel to produce the heat required for road construction.And asphalt is just one example of the enormous industrial market operating in Airthium's temperature range.This conversation was also a reminder of why we started Airthium.Industrial heat is something most of us never see, but it is behind the roads we drive on, the food we eat, the chemicals and materials we use, and much of the infrastructure being built around the world.When you invest in Airthium, you are helping us build a cheaper, more practical alternative to burning fuel for that heat.Your investment helps us develop the technology, prove it at industrial scale, and ultimately put systems like these into factories and infrastructure projects around the world.Build the roads. Build the factories. Build the future.Just burn a lot less fuel doing it.Learn more, increase your investment, or share Airthium with someone who should know about us: https://wefunder.com/airthium/invest