SYDNEY, Australia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Neara, a provider of cloud-based digital twin solutions for global utilities, today announced it secured USD14M (AUD20M) in Series B funding led by Skip Capital, and joined by Square Peg Capital (who led Neara’s Series A raise) and OIF. The Australian-based SaaS platform will use this latest funding to expand its global footprint (with a particular focus on further growing its U.S. presence), and broaden its platform functionality, including into new industries. Following its USD5M (AUD7.25M) Series A secured in 2021, Neara’s Series B brings its investment total to USD19M (AUD27.25M) to date.
Neara solves the greatest issues faced by utilities, including an increasingly unstable climate, extreme weather events, and commitments to scale up renewable energy generation. Neara creates digital models of entire infrastructure networks which enable utilities to prepare for and better withstand weather emergencies. It also enables the complex engineering analysis required to optimize existing networks and integrate renewables far more efficiently and effectively.
“The critical infrastructure we all rely on daily for fundamental needs like electricity is under pressure from annual weather emergencies like floods and fires. The utility industry is spending billions physically assessing and maintaining their aging assets, and simultaneously trying to resolve how to integrate renewable assets. Our platform enables a holistic approach to addressing these key challenges while enabling leaps forward in cost reduction, safety, and reliability for our customers and the communities they serve,” said Jack Curtis, Chief Commercial Officer at Neara.
Founded in 2016 by ex-Google software engineer Daniel Danilatos, Neara uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to create a dynamic ‘digital twin’ - a virtual model of an infrastructure network. Neara’s software can be used to design or redesign parts of the network, analyze potential risks, and manage physical assets with a sophisticated physics and engineering engine.
To date, Neara has modeled ~390K total network miles, ~510K total network square miles (larger than the area of California and Texas combined), and ~2.4M total number of assets, covering distribution, sub-transmission, and transmission structures.
Since its Series A funding, Neara has been working with a number of U.S. utilities, helping to pilot a suite of digital solutions. With its Series B, it will accelerate its growth throughout the country to assist more network operators impacted by the ever growing electricity disruptions caused by weather and aging infrastructure. The company plans to double its U.S. staff in the next six months.
“We are delighted to lead this round and really excited about Neara’s global potential,” said Kim Jackson, Head of Skip Capital. “This is our third investment in the company and they continue to impress us with their product, focus and vision. They have already digitally modeled more than half of Australia’s electricity network, helping to transform the way utilities operate their infrastructure and respond to weather crises such as wildfires and floods, which have now become regular events. I am excited about their expansion globally, especially with utilities in the U.S. and Europe.”
James Tynan, Neara’s lead investor at Square Peg Capital, added, “We’re thrilled to be backing Dan and the team at Neara as they leverage the power of software to help utilities transform. It’s obvious to see that solutions like Neara are required to protect communities from the effects of climate change while also helping utilities to design, analyze and manage the changes to their network that are necessary to hit climate targets.”
“Partnering with Neara has allowed us to evolve our digital asset management capability so that we are more agile in our decision-making,” said Luke Jenner, Chief Operating Officer at Essential Energy. “In a changing climate where we’re already seeing the effects of unprecedented natural disasters impacting our customers, our team can now use digital twin modeling to assess scenarios across the network and determine how resilient our network assets are under various environmental conditions and stresses. This allows us to forecast network reliability and balance our customer’s expectations of performance with the required investment to achieve network resilience.”
For more information about Neara, visit www.neara.com or email info@neara.com.
About Neara
Neara is a physics-based platform that builds 3D interactive models of critical infrastructure networks and assets, providing the ability to run real-world scenarios, assess current and future risk, and prioritize maintenance and disaster response. Neara is focused on connecting industry knowledge and data with our digital twin technology to solve the complex problems facing infrastructure companies globally. We share our customers’ goals for safety and reliability, and are committed to their success by collaborating with them to realize sustainable value through our transformative solutions. Neara has offices in Australia, North America, and Europe. For more information visit www.neara.com.
