This week, California utility infrastructure startup Gridware announced that it has received a $5.3 million venture capital seed round, led by entrepreneur-run fund Fifty Years and True Ventures, with participation from Y-Combinator, Liquid 2 Ventures, Wireframe Ventures, SOMA Capital. Anorak Ventures and others.
Gridware says it will use the capital to accelerate its in-house engineering and R&D efforts and expand its utility partnership network, a mission that has gained imperative with the approach of California’s high season for wildfires.
“We’re investing in an increasing number of climate technologies that not only help to set the path for an environmentally conscious future but also help to reduce risk for humanity in the immediate term,” said Priscilla Tyler of lead investor True Ventures. “Gridware’s technology is focused on a problem we have a responsibility to solve. It has the potential to be hugely impactful in reducing rampant wildfires, and the company aligns keenly with our experience of investing in SaaS-enabled hardware.”
According to figures from utiity trade publication T&D World cited by Gridware, U.S. utilities typically have one damaged or deteriorated component every 7.2 miles of overhead electricity lines. But given that this same 7.2 mile area contains 140-150 poles, each with 6 to 10 components, this equates to one point of risk for roughly every 1000 components. Without a predictive maintenance solution, it is very difficult to identify potential fire risks before they pose an immediate fire danger–or, as Gridware puts it, “finding a needle in a haystack–before the haystack catches fire.”
Predictive maintenance using AI analytics can potentially narrow those 140 to 150 utility poles to one or two, then identifying just the components in need of repair. This can not only prevent outages but catastrophic disasters like the recent years’ California wildfires.
Gridware’s own business model is built around a SaaS platform that provides millimeter visibility into the internal integrity of every grid component transporting electricity through areas identified as high-fire-threat. Total grid visibility gives utility decision makers the information they need to perform upgrades efficiently, equitably, and effectively.
“It’s clear to us that Gridware has the perfect solution for the wildfire crisis. They understand the need to not only reduce fire risk, but also solve the fundamental problem with how we maintain and inspect our aging power infrastructure,” said Shuo Yang of Fifty Years, which co-led the investment round. “This is a team that has not only deep technical experience, but also practical, personal understanding of what it’s like to be out there maintaining utility poles. They can work with all parties and help solve this problem.”
In addition to securing its seed venture capital round, the company is currently accepting applications for a wildfire prevention pilot program.
