Keeping it chill.

• Author: Martin, Cathy
• Position: NC TREND: Triangle Region - North Carolina

With $71 million in fresh funding and ties to appliance maker Haier and UNC Rex Healthcare, Durham-based Phononic could be poised for a breakout year. Started as a "science experiment" managing research underway at three universities, Phononic develops semiconductor technology that makes refrigerators and cooling products operate more quietly and consume less energy. The company led by co-founder and CEO Tony Atti has raised more than $160 million since it was started nearly a decade ago.

Raleigh-based UNC Rex Healthcare said in March it would outfit its new 300,000-square-foot Heart & Vascular Hospital with Phononic's Evolve refrigerators, which provide more reliable temperature control to protect drugs, vaccines and other medical products. Rex Health Ventures is a Phononic investor, and UNC Rex's main hospital has helped test some company products.

"They were a first-market adopter and tester for us, built our reputation, built up our credibility," says Atti, who has a doctorate in organic chemistry from the University of Southern California.

Originally focused on consumer products, Phononic hooked up a few years ago with Haier, which recently launched a line of wine chillers using the N.C. company's technology under its premium Casarte brand, sold in Asia and Europe.

One of the world's biggest appliance makers, including a plant in Camden, S.C., China-based Haier has struggled to build its brand in the U.S. Its $5.6 billion purchase of General Electric's appliance business last year could lead to more business for...