This article is part of a series produced in collaboration with Sunway iLabs, spotlighting emerging startups from the LaunchX 2025/2026 cohort.
Open to university startups across Malaysia, LaunchX is the university startup accelerator programme that turns validated ideas into fundable startups, co-organised by Sunway University, Sunway iLabs, and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), and supported by the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE).
What began as a university research project is now evolving into a climate-tech startup with ambitions to reduce energy consumption, improve solar panel performance, and make cooling more sustainable. Bayu Shield Coating Tech, founded by Amirah Zaki, Amin Ikhsan and Anin Sofya, is developing a passive cooling coating that lowers surface temperatures without consuming electricity — offering a potential solution to one of the world’s fastest-growing challenges: heat.
As global temperatures continue to climb and electricity demand for cooling surges, the founders believe conventional approaches are no longer enough.
“Climate change is creating a cycle where rising temperatures drive greater cooling demand, which increases energy consumption and carbon emissions, ultimately worsening global warming,” say Amirah Zaki, Amin Ikhsan and Anin Sofya, Co-Founders of Bayu Shield Coating Tech. “We wanted to develop a solution that could break that cycle without requiring additional energy.”
From Physics Lab to Startup Competition Champion
The origins of Bayu Shield can be traced back to a final-year project at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, where Amirah, then a Physics undergraduate, began exploring passive cooling materials under the guidance of Associate Professor Dr Mohammad Hafizuddin Jumali.
The project was far from straightforward. With limited prior exposure to coating technologies, Amirah spent months reviewing scientific literature, experimenting with formulations and conducting tests to determine whether passive cooling could be achieved through material innovation.
The breakthrough came when laboratory results demonstrated the coating’s ability to reduce surface temperatures without external energy input.
What could have remained an academic exercise soon gained entrepreneurial momentum after the team entered The Next Big Thing (TNBT) Startup Competition. Together with fellow students and advisors, they transformed the research into a business proposition, refining their technology, value proposition and market strategy.
Their efforts culminated in winning the national-level competition, convincing the founders that the technology had commercial potential beyond academia.
“Winning TNBT was a turning point. The judges saw real-world applications for the technology and encouraged us to continue developing it after graduation. That validation gave us confidence that this could become more than just a research project.”
Today, Bayu Shield is led by the trio of Amirah, Amin and Anin, who continue to advance the technology while exploring commercial partnerships and funding opportunities.
Tackling the Hidden Cost of Heat
The startup’s solution addresses a growing challenge affecting industries, businesses and households alike.
As temperatures rise across Southeast Asia, cooling systems such as air conditioners and industrial ventilation are consuming increasing amounts of electricity. In countries where power generation remains heavily dependent on fossil fuels, this creates a feedback loop of higher emissions and higher temperatures.
Bayu Shield’s answer is a passive cooling coating that works through two mechanisms: reflecting solar radiation and emitting absorbed heat back into the atmosphere.
According to the founders, testing has demonstrated temperature reductions of up to 11°C on aluminium surfaces exposed to direct sunlight.
Unlike traditional cooling systems, the coating requires no electricity to function.
“Our technology reduces heat at the source rather than managing it after it has already entered a building or system. Because it doesn’t consume energy, it offers both economic and environmental benefits.”
A Strategic Focus on Solar Energy
While the technology has applications across multiple industries, Bayu Shield is initially targeting the solar energy sector.
Heat is a significant challenge for solar installations, as elevated operating temperatures reduce photovoltaic efficiency and energy output. By lowering panel temperatures, the founders believe their coating can improve performance and increase returns for solar asset owners.
The startup has already begun early-stage validation through collaboration with SunCrox Solar, which has provided solar panels for testing and expressed interest in the technology once commercial-ready.
“We chose solar as our first market because the impact is measurable. If panel temperatures decrease, efficiency improvements can be quantified directly. That creates a compelling value proposition for operators and investors.”
The founders see solar farms, EPC contractors and solar system integrators as their primary customers, particularly across Malaysia and the broader ASEAN region where solar adoption continues to accelerate.
Positioning Between Performance and Affordability
The passive cooling market is not without competition.
Established brands have introduced various heat-reflective coatings, but Bayu Shield believes it occupies a unique position by balancing performance with affordability.
The startup’s coating combines both solar reflection and thermal emission mechanisms while maintaining a price point significantly lower than some premium international alternatives.
“We’re not trying to be the most expensive or the cheapest option. Our goal is to provide strong cooling performance at a price that enables large-scale adoption.”
Beyond solar energy, the founders see future opportunities in agriculture, commercial buildings and residential properties — sectors where excessive heat directly affects productivity, operating costs and energy consumption.
The Road to Commercialisation
Despite its promise, Bayu Shield remains in the early stages of development.
The startup estimates it is currently at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 3 to 4, with ongoing efforts focused on formulation refinement, durability testing and real-world validation.
Funding remains one of the team’s biggest challenges.
Investment would allow Bayu Shield to accelerate research and development, conduct industry-standard certification and weathering tests, secure intellectual property protection and move towards manufacturing scale-up.
The founders are also exploring collaborations with coating manufacturers and R&D partners to shorten development timelines and prepare the product for market entry.
“At this stage, funding isn’t just about growth. It’s about validating the technology, protecting the intellectual property and ensuring we can meet commercial standards before entering the market.”
Learning Entrepreneurship Through Science
For the founders, building Bayu Shield has required learning skills far beyond physics and material science.
Participation in startup programmes such as TNBT and LaunchX exposed the team to pitching, market validation, business modelling and fundraising — disciplines rarely taught in traditional science curricula.
“As physics students, entrepreneurship was completely new to us. We had to learn how to communicate technical innovation in a way that investors, customers and partners could understand.”
That learning curve, they say, has been one of the most rewarding aspects of the journey.
Building a Cooler Future
Looking ahead, Bayu Shield’s ambitions extend beyond coatings.
The startup is exploring future product formats, including thin-film applications that could be integrated more easily into solar panels, glass surfaces and building materials. The team also plans to introduce different colour variants to broaden commercial adoption.
If successful, the founders hope their technology can help establish passive cooling as a standard feature across buildings, infrastructure and renewable energy systems.
“Our vision is to make cooling sustainable. Five years from now, we want people to think differently about how heat is managed. Cooling shouldn’t have to come with higher energy bills or greater environmental impact.”
For Bayu Shield, the journey from university laboratory to climate-tech startup is only just beginning. But as rising temperatures continue to challenge industries worldwide, the founders believe the future belongs to technologies that can deliver comfort and efficiency without consuming more energy.