Sydney, Australia – November 22, 2024
Neara, the AI-powered predictive modeling platform for critical infrastructure, has successfully raised €28 million in its Series C funding round. The investment was led by EQT, with participation from Partners Group, Square Peg Capital, Skip Capital, and Prosus Ventures. Neara’s mission is to revolutionize the way utilities and infrastructure providers enhance resilience, reduce outages, and accelerate energy transition.
Transforming Infrastructure Resilience
Neara leverages AI and digital modeling to create precise virtual simulations of critical infrastructure, enabling utilities to:
• Stress-test systems under extreme weather conditions such as high winds, flooding, and wildfires.
• Predict and mitigate risks to assets like power lines and pylons, reducing downtime.
• Optimize energy loads to meet growing global electricity demand while unlocking additional capacity within existing grids.
Scottish Power successfully utilized Neara’s platform to simulate the catastrophic 2021 Storm Arwen and implement proactive measures to prevent future failures. Globally, Neara has modeled over 12 million infrastructure assets spanning 1.5 million miles, enabling utilities to identify risks nine times faster and restore power three times as quickly.
Scaling Global Impact
With offices in London, New York, and Sydney, Neara plans to expand its footprint using the Series C funding by:
• Establishing a larger European headquarters in London to support growing client demand across the continent.
• Broadening its scope beyond electricity grids to other infrastructure sectors, including telecommunications and public transportation.
• Expanding its modeling of broadband infrastructure in the U.S. to support underserved populations.
Strategic Investor Support
EQT Partner Frank Heckes highlighted Neara’s alignment with the firm’s energy transition and infrastructure augmentation goals:
“Neara exemplifies our vision of addressing global challenges through innovation. Their technology is vital for accelerating the resilience of critical systems in key markets.”
Cyrus Driver from Partners Group emphasized the importance of leveraging every infrastructure investment:
“Neara’s tools ensure that every dollar spent on infrastructure demonstrably improves performance, addressing the urgent need for efficiency and sustainability.”
Square Peg’s James Tynan added:
“Infrastructure underpins every aspect of our lives, and Neara’s unique ability to manage these critical assets intelligently couldn’t be more relevant today.”
Future Vision
Neara’s Chief Commercial Officer Jack Curtis underscored the urgency of strengthening global infrastructure:
“We are asking the grid to do more in the next decade than it has in the past 50 years. Reliable, clean energy depends on high-functioning, resilient systems—a goal Neara is committed to achieving.”
Recognized by TIME as one of the 2024 TIME100 Most Influential Companies, Neara is setting new standards in infrastructure resilience and innovation, empowering global utilities and infrastructure providers to navigate a rapidly changing world.
For more details, visit neara.com.
