Sydney-based Gridsight has closed a $26m Series B led by Insight Partners to expand its AI grid intelligence platform in the US and Australia, where much distribution capacity sits unused for most of the year.
Founded in 2020, Gridsight builds software that lets electricity utilities monitor, manage and optimise their distribution networks. It draws on smart meter and network data to improve visibility, identify constraints and support the connection of rooftop solar, batteries and other distributed resources.
The company’s pitch is that the grid problem is one of visibility rather than raw capacity. After 15 years of flat demand, electricity consumption is rising again, driven by AI data centres, electric vehicles and wider electrification. New infrastructure is costly and slow to build, so utilities are turning back to the networks they already own. According to Gridsight, as much as three-quarters of grid capacity goes unused on average.
Brendan Banfield, co-founder and CEO of Gridsight, said: “The grid’s capacity challenge is not uniform. For the majority of the year, significant capacity exists; but it is uneven, dynamic and geographically dependent. Our platform helps utilities quantify that capacity, connect customers faster and direct investment to the pockets of the grid that maximize its impact.”
Doubling household solar exports in New South Wales
Gridsight already works with US utilities including Xcel Energy and United Illuminating, an Avangrid subsidiary. The most concrete result so far comes from Australia, where Endeavour Energy has deployed the company’s capacity management platform for real-time solar management. The programme doubled the static export limit for household solar from 5kW to 10kW, paired with dynamic control to protect the local network. Endeavour expects it to deliver more than $100m in value for customers and 600 MW of additional solar capacity for the grid.
The new capital will go towards faster US expansion of the company’s AI-driven capacity management products, while supporting continued growth at home in Australia.
Who backed the round
Insight Partners led the round, with participation from Galvanize and existing investors Airtree, Energy Transition Ventures and Aera VC.
Rachel Geller, Managing Director at Insight Partners, said: “The energy transition is stress-testing utility networks in ways they were never designed to handle. Gridsight’s platform provides the intelligence, visibility, and control needed to unlock latent capacity, connect more load, and stay ahead of demand without waiting for new infrastructure.”
The raise lands in a crowded field. Grid software start-ups have drawn a run of funding rounds this year as connection queues lengthen in mature markets, where headroom on the wires, rather than the cost of generation, has become the binding constraint on new renewables and new load alike.
