US-based clean energy startup Emerald AI has raised an additional $18 million in a seed extension round, bringing its total seed funding to $42.5 million. The latest round was led by Lowercarbon Capital and saw participation from Trust Ventures, NVIDIA, Kleiner Perkins Chairman John Doerr, and other investors, signalling strong confidence in the company’s mission to accelerate next-generation climate technologies.
The fresh round of funding will be used to scale up Emerald’s Conductor software for commercial use and to broaden its pilot projects and deployments across North America and the United Kingdom, as the company moves toward wider market adoption.
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Emerald also revealed a partnership with NVIDIA to build the world’s first commercial-scale, power-flexible 96MW AI factory, a major step forward in both technology and infrastructure. The facility is expected to serve as a benchmark for future AI factories, paving the way for a global network of power-adaptive data centres designed to optimise energy use while supporting large-scale AI workloads.
Emerald is transforming the way data centres interact with the power grid, shifting their role from energy-heavy consumers to active, grid-supporting assets. Its platform uses real-time analytics to manage computing demand — adjusting, shifting, or pausing workloads when the grid faces high stress, all while maintaining seamless performance. In an early pilot project at a Phoenix data centre, Emerald’s system reduced energy consumption by 25% during peak hours, easing pressure on the grid without impacting operational efficiency.
Emerald’s strategy also involves addressing long-standing utility regulations that fail to keep pace with modern, flexible energy demands and efforts to ease grid congestion. Expanding nationwide presents additional hurdles, as the company must navigate a complex mix of state and federal rules and coordinate with the seven regional transmission organisations (RTOs) and independent system operators (ISOs) that oversee much of the nation’s power grid.
Founder Varun Sivaram and his team recognise that addressing this issue requires more than just advanced software, it demands a comprehensive systems approach that integrates technology, infrastructure, and energy policy to drive lasting change.
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Varun Sivaram brings a rare mix of scientific, technological, and policy expertise to Emerald’s mission. A physicist by training, he previously led strategy and innovation at Ørsted, served as CTO at ReNew Power, one of India’s leading renewable energy companies, and represented the U.S. as a senior diplomat for clean energy at the State Department. He is joined by co-founders Ayşe Coskun, Shayan Sengupta, and Aroon Vijaykar, who together contribute deep expertise spanning energy systems, large-scale computing, and market design.
“AI data centres can deliver the economic development and grid-friendly support that
communities and power utilities compete to attract. AI factories can serve as grid stabilisers and unlock vast quantities of power capacity that already exists by more effectively using today’s grid infrastructure. As a result, the power system becomes more affordable and more reliable, not less,” as per the Emerald team.