Applied Computing, a London-based startup that’s constructing a foundation AI model for the oil, gas, and petrochemical industry, has raised a $20 million Series A led by engineering giant KBR, with Databricks Ventures participating.
Founded in 2023, the startup targets oil, gas, refining, and petrochemical systems, where a single facility can have hundreds of sensors measuring every thing from temperature and pressure to velocity and viscosity. While there’s a huge market for helping energy firms solve the data-tracking problem, the fragmentation presents a big hurdle.
Facilities consequently make operating decisions using lower than 8% of the info available to them, says Applied Computing’s co-founder and CEO Callum Adamson (pictured above, right). Operators already collect much of this information, he said, but they struggle to mix the sensor readings, engineering documentation, and physics and chemistry quickly enough to investigate and make predictions.
“It’s getting those three data sources to consult with one another in real time. That’s the actual key,” he told TechCrunch.
Unlike large language models, which predict the following word, Applied Computing says its foundation model, Orbital, combines a time series model, a physics-based model, and a language model to predict the state of a facility. It does this by analyzing sensor readings, keeping physics and chemistry in mind, and recognizing a facility’s equipment constraints and operator activity. It also allows technicians to run simulations of how a change in a single a part of a facility could affect the remaining of its operations.
Essentially, Applied Computing is pitching speed: It claims Orbital can flag anomalies, investigate what caused them, and model whether a proposed fix could create problems elsewhere in the power, all inside minutes. Adamson claims the product can compress investigations that previously took days or perhaps weeks into seconds, helping operators reduce energy use and maintain output.
That promise of speed seems to have found believers. The startup says it has gone from stealth to double-digit hundreds of thousands in annual recurring revenue in under 18 months. Adamson said Orbital is in use at some “large, publicly listed” upstream oil and gas, downstream refining and petrochemicals firms, although he declined to say how many shoppers it has.
Its partners include Indian energy company Wipro, and KBR, which has integrated Orbital into its INSITE 3.0 digital platform for energy projects, and is using the product for ammonia production. Adamson said the startup can also be working with a “major U.S. upstream operator” and plans to announce a partnership with a European oil major in the approaching weeks.
Still, Applied Computing is entering a market that has entrenched industrial software suppliers, in addition to more focused AI startups. AspenTech sells simulation and AI-powered modeling software for upstream, refining, and chemical operations, while AVEVA offers physics-based process simulation, optimization, and “what-if” modeling for industrial plants. Cognite and Seeq goal the info layer, helping facilities analyze industrial data, and apply AI to design workflows.
Adamson argues that the corporate’s moat is just not access to industrial data or process knowledge, but moderately assembling AI researchers to construct a model that may compete with Orbital.
“It’s an AI problem. It’s not an information problem, and it’s not an energy problem,” he said. “If you happen to’re a tier-one AI researcher, where are you going to work? … I don’t think Shell’s on that list.”
Adamson also pointed to the info Orbital receives through its deployments. Operational data from refineries and other energy facilities is usually not available publicly, he said, while simulated data cannot fully reproduce what happens inside a working plant.
The KBR partnership may help the corporate, too. Adamson said the partnership gives Applied Computing access to operational data and industry expertise, in addition to introductions to more potential customers.
Applied Computing plans to make use of the $20 million to expand internationally, hire for research and engineering roles, and explore deployments with energy clients.
The corporate on Thursday said it’s also opened an office in Houston, adding to its headquarters in London and operational hub in Bengaluru. Adamson said the U.S. base puts the startup closer to 2 existing customers in North America, and an expansion into the Middle East can also be within the works.
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