Neara has announced a $10 million capital raise extension and a case study for increasing the existing line capacity for renewable energy.
The round was participated by Prosus Ventures and by Neara’s existing investors, Skip Capital, and Square Peg Capital. The funding now makes the overall Series B to $24 million.
Neara is an infrastructure modeling platform that makes use of AI tech to create 3D, network-wide models for engineering-grade simulations and analytics.
The company will employ the funds to increase its global expansion and create a new System of Enablement functionality for itself.
The model is unifying by design. Therefore, it will eradicate constraints that prevent renewable generation from connecting to the grid, particularly network availability and accessibility.
Jack Curtis, Neara Chief Commercial Officer, said, “Neara’s AI simulation and analytics platform sits at the center of the energy transition to ensure utilities are empowered to make holistic, system-wide decisions.”
“Our System of Enablement delivers one unified model to resolve critical macro issues, from designing stronger grids to mitigating damage caused by catastrophic weather events, as well as bringing renewable energy online faster using existing network infrastructure,”
“Prosus Ventures’ investment accelerates Neara’s System of Enablement development to provide a central decision-making platform for critical stakeholders in the energy transition ecosystem.”
Neara plans to expand in the U.S. and Europe where it will offer enterprise-level 3D network modeling technology using AI/ML to aggregate utilities’ broad spectrum of data sources into one realistic digital simulation environment.
The model is estimated to simulate how the assets will respond in the real world under any condition based on hundreds of network and environmental variables.
Neara’s System of Enablement
The company’s report says that the System of Enablement function provides data for how existing electricity network infrastructure can be optimized to remove renewable integration constraints associated with network availability and accessibility.
Sachin Bhanot, Head of SEA & ANZ Investments, Prosus Ventures, said, “At Prosus Ventures, we focus on driving a positive impact on society and the planet through our investments.”
“We are thrilled to partner with Neara in fast-tracking the world to a cleaner, safer, and electrified future. We believe in the power of technology to solve the greatest challenges facing us — including action on climate change, affordable access to digital services, and delivery of sustainable products and services,”
Neara has completed a proprietary line rating case study with EMPACT Engineering. It found that 94.5% of the lines could safely run at double the current capacity. This allows clean energy integration with existing infrastructure.
The company claims its modeling is accurate and cost-effective for discovering capacity.
Other network issues, like developing and constructing new transmission lines, in the energy transition for Neara are still works in progress.
Neara plans to provide network utilities for a whole-of-life-cycle network model that can provide route optimization, community engagement, as well as development and construction velocity. It will increase the pace for critical renewable infrastructure and employ the same to clear renewable project backlogs.
