AiDash, a California company that utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) and satellites to detect fire and weather hazards on power lines, announced on Tuesday that it had raised $50 million in new funding.
AiDash, a California firm that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and satellites to detect fire and weather dangers on power lines, announced on Tuesday that it had raised $50 million in new funding, highlighting Silicon Valley’s attempts to develop solutions that help energy businesses adapt to climate change.
Power companies are under pressure to reduce the danger of forest fires and storm-related outages after huge fires were started by power lines and weather events knocked down wires. At the same time, grid loads are expected to increase as electricity replaces fossil fuels in applications such as electric vehicles and home heat pumps.
Hundreds of startups and small businesses offer services and technologies aimed at improving forest management, forest fire detection and response, and various wildfire and forest-fire services.
AiDash uses artificial intelligence to search satellite photos for faults and changes along power utility electric transmission lines, such as where vegetation has grown and whether trees are encroaching on the lines.
The tool by AiDash is also being used to help build surveys for businesses facing new biodiversity reporting rules, such as those in the United Kingdom. The extra funds will be used, in part, to establish a European headquarters.
National Grid, an AiDash customer and investor with networks in the UK and the United States, reported demonstrable benefits in reducing the number and duration of outages since implementing the system to identify maintenance priorities on its Massachusetts grid.
“We have to be more dynamic in allocating our resources,” AiDash CEO Abhishek Singh said.
Lightrock led the financing round, which included National Grid’s National Grid Partners, Schneider Electric-backed SE Ventures, Edison International, Shell Ventures, and other investors.
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