AI-powered energy data start-up Gridsight lands $7.5m backing

An energy software start-up backed by Airtree has raised $7.5m to launch new software that can double what homeowners feed back to the grid. But can it help solve the nation’s solar tax?

Gridsight co-founders Kurt Walkom, Dr Brendan Banfield and Hugh Chan.

A Wollongong man who completed a PhD in “getting the most” out of solar batteries, electric vehicles and smart air conditioners has won the backing of Airtree Ventures, which threw $7.5m behind his energy data start-up Gridsight.

Dr Brendan Banfield has turned his research into a business, and now provides data and analysis to more than half of the grid operators in Australia.

The data was used to develop Endeavour Energy’s new Flexible Exports program which Gridsight claims will double the amount of rooftop solar power homeowners can export back into the grid, offsetting 75,000 homes and up to $100m in solar exports.

Endeavour Energy chief executive Guy Chalkley called the start-up an “invaluable strategic partner” that had “world-class capabilities”.

Gridsight’s capital raise arrives as Australians who’ve taken up solar panels are being hit with the ‘sun tax’, with the minimum payment for solar fed back into the grid continuing to slide.

In February, Victorian Climate Change Minister Lily D’Ambrosio announced that her government had planned to slash payments for feed-in-tariffs altogether.

At the same time, the take-up of renewable energy options is rising. Part of the issue was energy networks were set up to be “simple” and allow a one-way flow of power, Dr Banfield said.

“Australia has the highest penetration of rooftop solar in the world, and we’re seeing the uptake of batteries and electric vehicles, which is an amazing opportunity, but it adds enormous complexity in terms of how you manage and operate a modern distribution.”

Gridsight believes that grid operators have lacked the data to establish more efficient bidirectional flow of energy.

“Utilities in the past have really just been operating on rules of thumb and really static assumptions on how they kind of plan for future network upgrades,” Dr Banfield said.

Many operators had made “conservative” decisions in the past, modelling networks based on the average use of a three-bedroom house, as opposed to analysing a street or suburb based on its actual energy use, he said.

Gridsight has 37 staff across Wollongong, Sydney, Canberra and in the US in Texas.

The $7.5m raise was led by Airtree Ventures with participation from US VC fund Energy Transition Ventures, Singaporean VC Aera and Australian Cricket Captain Pat Cummins.

Airtree Ventures Partner James Cameron said he believed the energy grid “desperately needs to evolve with our changing energy demands”.

“The decarbonisation and renewables-led electrification of industry is one of the greatest challenges the world faces, but unfortunately the electricity grid itself is already bottlenecking our progress,” he said.

“With a proven track record and strong market demand, Gridsight is a great example of how homegrown AI technology is at the forefront of solving huge global problems in markets such as energy.”

Gridsight’s technology was not a direct competitor to energy network simulator start-up Neara but rather “complimentary”, Dr Banfield said.

Neara is able to use sensors and smart home technologies to replicate energy networks and run them through digital simulations including hazardous weather events to assess what kind of damage would be done.

“They’re really focused on the mechanical assets on the network, things like your poles and your transformers, how they’re ageing and how much they are at risk,” Dr Banfield said.

“Gridsight is really focused on the electrons that are flowing through the power lines, making sure that voltage levels aren’t being exceeded and that we’re not overloading transformers.”

Originally published as AI-powered energy data start-up Gridsight lands $7.5m backing