Neara, a Sydney-headquartered. AI-powered, 3D modeling startup, has announced raising $10 million more in its extended Series B funding round, bringing the total funds raised to date in the round to $24 million.
The funding round was backed by Prosus Ventures (formerly Naspers Ventures) and existing investors Skip Capital and Square Peg Capital, Australia’s largest pensions-backed venture capital firm.
The startup, which raised $7.3 million in Series A funding in 2021, said it will use the fresh capital to accelerate its global expansion and further develop its “System of Enablement” functionality.
Neara claims to be the first infrastructure modelling platform that uses AI to create 3D, network-wide models for engineering-grade simulations and analytics.
The company said its AI platform allows utility operators to design efficient networks, enhance wildfire and vegetation management programmes, and bring renewable projects online faster using their existing infrastructure.
“Our System of Enablement delivers one unified model to resolve critical macro issues, from designing stronger grids to mitigating damage caused by catastrophic weather events and bringing renewable energy online faster using existing network infrastructure,” said Neara chief commercial officer Jack Curtis.
With the fresh capital, Neara said it will expand its focus in the US and Europe, offering enterprise-grade, 3D network modelling technology that uses AI and machine learning (ML).
Utilities use the model to simulate how their assets will respond in the real world under any condition based on hundreds of network and environmental variables, Neara said.
The round’s anchor investor, Prosus Ventures, the corporate venture arm (CVC) of Dutch technology conglomerate Prosus, which, in turn, is a subsidiary of South African internet group Naspers, is betting big on sectors such as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), wealth management, and healthtech in Southeast Asia.