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Australian startup Neara hits unicorn status with $63.8m raise
Neara, an Australian company specializing in physics-enabled digital twin technology for infrastructure, has raised AUD 90 million (US$63.8 million) in a series D funding round led by TCV, a global growth equity firm.
The round also included returning investors such as Partners Group, EQT, Square Peg Capital, and Skip Capital, bringing Neara’s total funding to about AUD 180 million (US$127.7 million).
The funding will be used to expand Neara’s AI and machine learning teams and grow its international presence.
The company’s technology aims to address global infrastructure challenges by identifying underutilized network capacity, supporting new infrastructure, and improving grid resilience amid rising energy demand from AI and data centers.
Neara works with utility companies worldwide, including Southern California Edison, Scottish Power, and most Australian network utilities.
The company’s digital twin models over 15 million assets across four continents, helping utilities accelerate infrastructure projects and reduce costs.
🔗 Source: Neara
🧠 Food for thought
Implications, context, and why it matters.
Beyond the funding, Neara’s track record in utilities
- Neara’s “physics-enabled” digital twin uses a geometrically precise 3D model that simulates how infrastructure assets behave in real conditions, such as a utility pole bending or swaying in >100mph winds 1.
- SA Power Networks said the method restored power lines within five days, compared with an originally anticipated three weeks using manual work. Another utility said modelling found some spans could run at roughly twice the capacity it had assumed 1.
- OIF Ventures said Neara had “zero enterprise customer churn” and converted close to 100% of non-ARR customers into ARR customers within 12 months. Annual recurring revenue (ARR) is subscription-style revenue that repeats each year 2.
- The funding backs U.S. growth. CenterPoint Energy announced a strategic technology relationship with Neara for resiliency work tied to the 2025 hurricane season and beyond, serving 2.8 million customers 3.
Neara’s growth and aging grids
- One market-research report projects digital twins in the power sector will grow from $2.4 billion in 2024 to around $37.3 billion by 2034 4.
- Neara’s SVP & managing director Taco Engelaar wrote that Neara analysis using physics-enabled digital modelling in the UK & Ireland found up to 74% of electricity distribution networks are underutilised 5.
- Engelaar also argued the sector will shift toward remote monitoring and analysis, with more demand for people who can apply AI and digital modelling. He cited hiring and upskilling across roles from machine learning engineers and data scientists to LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging, a laser-based 3D mapping method) operators and GIS (Geographic Information System) specialists 5.
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