Australian AI-powered grid modelling software company Neara has raised US$31m in a series C funding round.

The funding will accelerate Neara’s operations across the USA, Europe and Asia Pacific as the company continues to address energy resilience and infrastructure modernisation.

With operations across four continents, Neara’s 3D digital modelling technology enables utilities to adopt a more proactive approach to network optimisation with simulations that surface safety and reliability risks and identify the most effective remediation actions. The firm’s utility partners, including CenterPoint Energy and Southern California Edison in the USA, perform critical analyses in just hours and days that would otherwise take months or years. These analyses enable utilities to execute faster, more informed decisions about a wide range of issues, from routine operations and load growth planning to emergency scenarios and double and triple-digit million-dollar grid hardening decisions without the need for verification from manual surveys.

CenterPoint Energy (www.centerpointenergy.com) partnered with Neara following 2024’s Hurricane Beryl to forecast, measure and deliver network improvements as part of its mission to build a resilient coastal grid. Already, CenterPoint has accelerated critical field insight analysis, reducing processes that historically took a year and a half to just three hours in Neara.

Southern California Edison (www.sce.com) counts on Neara’s technology to address problematic vegetation 50% faster in its wildfire-prone region.

As energy problems intensify, the public sector increasingly recognises the role of technology in driving data-informed decisions and aligning public and private stakeholders behind the most critical projects to ensure timely funding and execution. Neara’s network-wide simulations help utilities gain regulatory support by objectively demonstrating how proposed upgrades, such as wind-resistant poles and flood-resilient network design, will improve reliability and resiliency. Neara’s software helps utilities reduce outages, accelerate power restoration and bring infrastructure online much faster.

The company’s technology is also playing a central role in the energy transition by significantly simplifying the traditionally complex problems of transmission design and construction hurdles. The simulation functionality also empowers utilities to optimise the use of existing infrastructure, accelerating the integration of renewable energy sources.

“We are asking the grid to do more in the next ten years than we have in the last 50,” said Jack Curtis, chief commercial officer at Neara (www.neara.com). “Neara helps strengthen critical infrastructure to keep global communities safe, connected and economically viable despite intensifying severe weather, age and overuse. Reliable, affordable, clean energy depends on resilient high-functioning infrastructure, which demands the laser-focused, fast decision-making we’re empowering for utilities.”

The funding round was anchored by a consortium led by investment organisation EQT, with participation from Partners Group and Square Peg Capital, with additional support from existing investors Skip Capital and Prosus Ventures. The investment builds on Neara’s last funding round in September 2023.

This funding round should accelerate Neara’s global operations as utilities worldwide face increasing resiliency difficulties and the demands of the energy transition. The company will also expand its modelling and simulation capabilities to additional critical infrastructure sectors, including telecommunications and public transportation. Neara is already supporting broadband infrastructure projects in the USA, helping providers fast-track efforts to connect underserved communities.

“This investment marks EQT’s first venture growth investment in an Australia-headquartered company, highlighting our ambition to support world-class platforms from early growth partnerships through to large-cap buyouts,” said Frank Heckes, partner at EQT (eqtgroup.com). “We are excited to further advance Neara’s growth and impact by leveraging our global network and expertise across energy transition, infrastructure augmentation and best-in-class software development.”