AiDash, an enterprise SaaS company helping make critical infrastructure industries climate resilient and sustainable with satellites and AI, recently closed a $50 million Series C funding round -- and has now added Duke Investments, a wholly owned subsidiary of Duke Energy, as another investor.
The investment will fuel growth for AiDash, which has recently seen a surge in demand for its suite of satellite-first products that cover a range of climate-related platforms that are full-stack Software-as-a-Service systems. The company has customers in electric, gas, and water utilities, transportation, and construction, and helps with asset inspection and maintenance.
The new investment will be rolled into the Series C, which also included investments from global impact investment firm Lightrock; SE Ventures, a global venture fund backed by Schneider Electric; and G2 Venture Partners; as well as Benhamou Global Ventures; National Grid Partners; Edison International; and Shell Ventures.
“Innovative companies like AiDash help make it possible for us to deliver reliable power to our millions of customers and to make progress on our ambitious climate goals,” Casey Reedy, corporate development director at Duke Energy, said in a statement.
AiDash products include Intelligent Vegetation Management System (IVMS), which helps utilities identify and manage vegetation risks along rights-of-way; Climate Risk Intelligence System (CRIS) for accurate outage forecasting due to storms and wildfires; Asset Inspection and Monitoring System (AIMS), which helps utilities better manage their assets; and BNGAI, which helps organizations manage biodiversity programs. The products aim to enhance climate resilience, sustainability and operational efficiency.
The company said its platforms already offer grid reliability and resource efficiency, with its technology reducing vegetation-caused power outages during storms by 15%, boosting grid reliability by 5%-15% and delivering operations and maintenance cost efficiencies to clients of 10%-20%.
“Better tools and technologies are required to manage growing climate-related risks and enable the energy transition. Our combination of satellite technology and AI can protect essential systems, which often span huge geographical areas,” Abhishek Singh, Co-founder and CEO of AiDash, said in a statement. “With this additional strategic funding, we look forward to building on our existing relationship with Duke Energy to make an even greater impact.”
The company also said its products reduce the likelihood of wildfires caused by vegetation interfering with the safe operation of assets.
