Neara raises AUD 90 million to tackle global infrastructure challenges with AI

Neara has secured AUD 90 million in Series D funding to accelerate its mission to address mounting global infrastructure pressures using physics-enabled digital twin technology. The Sydney-based company specialises in modelling critical infrastructure systems, with a particular focus on energy networks that are under strain from rising demand, electrification, and the rapid expansion of AI and data centres.

The funding round was led by global growth equity firm TCV, marking another major milestone for Neara following its AUD 45 million Series C raise in late 2024. With this latest round, Neara’s total capital raised now stands at approximately AUD 180 million. The investment reflects growing confidence in the company’s approach to infrastructure intelligence at a time when energy access has emerged as a critical constraint on economic and technological growth.

The announcement comes amid increasing concern over ageing grid infrastructure and the ability of existing networks to support ambitious energy transition targets. Governments and utilities worldwide are under pressure to integrate renewable energy, support electrification, and accommodate the escalating power requirements of AI-driven computing. Neara positions its technology as a way to unlock hidden capacity within existing infrastructure while accelerating the rollout of new assets.

Addressing energy constraints in the AI and data centre era

Global electricity consumption by data centres is projected to more than double by 2030, driven by cloud computing, AI workloads, and digital services. This surge has intensified scrutiny on power grids that were designed for far lower and more predictable levels of demand. In many regions, access to energy rather than compute capacity is becoming the primary bottleneck for digital growth.

Neara’s physics-enabled digital twins are designed to provide utilities and asset owners with a detailed, real-world understanding of how infrastructure behaves under different conditions. By grounding simulations in engineering physics rather than abstract statistical models, the platform identifies underutilised network capacity, assesses risk more accurately, and supports faster, more confident decision-making.

According to Neara, this approach allows energy providers to stretch existing assets safely while maintaining reliability and resilience. It also enables quicker connections for new infrastructure projects, including renewable generation and large-scale industrial loads, without compromising network stability.

Jack Curtis, Co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer at Neara, said power grids globally are being pushed beyond their original design assumptions. He explained that infrastructure across energy, transport, and communications was built for a different era and now faces unprecedented demand. Curtis said Neara’s physics-based simulations give operators confidence to manage risk, expand capacity, and invest in the areas that matter most for both current constraints and future requirements.

Global traction and utility partnerships

Neara has built an extensive customer base across major energy markets, reflecting the global relevance of its technology. In the United States, the company works with utilities including Southern California Edison and CenterPoint Energy. Its European operations span Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Greece, with customers such as ESB Networks, Scottish Power, and Hedno.

In Australia, Neara has achieved particularly deep penetration, working with close to 90 per cent of network utilities nationwide. Its customers include Essential Energy, Endeavour Energy, Ausgrid, Ausnet, Powercor, and SA Power Networks. This level of adoption underscores the platform’s role in helping utilities manage complex networks in environments exposed to climate risk, regulatory pressure, and growing demand.

The company reports that its technology has already been used to model more than 15 million infrastructure assets covering over 3 million kilometres across four continents. These deployments have helped utilities identify and mitigate reliability risks, bring new infrastructure online significantly faster, and deliver substantial cost savings by consolidating workflows such as planning, design, and vegetation management onto a single platform.

Investment to fuel global expansion and product development

The Series D funding will be used to expand Neara’s global workforce, with a particular focus on machine learning and AI engineers. The company plans to deepen its technical capabilities to address increasingly complex infrastructure challenges while scaling its commercial presence in international markets.

TCV described the investment as its third backing of an Australian-founded, category-defining technology company. General Partner Muz Ashraf said global infrastructure challenges, from climate resilience to energy access for AI compute, require fundamentally new approaches. He added that Neara’s physics-enabled digital twin platform represents a significant advance in how utilities understand and manage their grids.

With this funding, Neara aims to strengthen its position as a creator of a new category of infrastructure intelligence. As networks approach their physical limits, the company argues that traditional heuristics and statistical models are no longer sufficient. By providing a physics-based foundation for infrastructure planning and operation, Neara positions its platform as a critical layer for optimising risk, performance, and long-term value in modern infrastructure systems.