Applied ComputingA London-based startup building a core artificial intelligence model for the oil, gas and petrochemical industries has raised a $20 million Series A round led by engineering giant KBR with participation from Databricks Ventures.
Founded in 2023, the startup is targeting oil, gas, refining and petrochemical systems, where a facility can have thousands of sensors measuring everything from temperature and pressure to velocity and viscosity. While there is big market As it helps energy companies solve the data tracking problem, it’s a significant barrier to fragmentation.
Callum Adamson, co-founder and CEO of Applied Computing (pictured above, right), says that facilities ultimately make operational decisions using less than 8% of the data they have. Operators already collect much of this information, he said, but they are trying to combine sensor readings, engineering documents, physics and chemistry quickly enough to make analysis and predictions.
“It makes these three data sources talk to each other in real time. That’s the real key,” he told TechCrunch.
Unlike big language models that predict the next word, Applied Computing says its core model, Orbital, combines a time-series model, a physics-based model and a language model to predict an object’s position. It does this by analyzing sensor readings, keeping in mind physics and chemistry, and recognizing facility equipment limitations and operator activity. It also allows technicians to run simulations of how a change in one part of a facility might affect the rest of its operations.
In fact, Applied Computing is all about speed: It claims it can note orbital anomalies, investigate what’s causing them, and model how a proposed fix could cause problems elsewhere in the facility within minutes. Adamson claims the product compresses investigations that previously took days or weeks into seconds, helping operators reduce energy use and maintain production.
This promise of speed seems to have found believers. The startup says it went from stealth to double-digit millions in annual recurring revenue in less than 18 months. Orbital is used by some “large, publicly listed” oil and gas, downstream refining and petrochemical companies, Adamson said, though he declined to say how many customers he 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 uses the product to produce ammonia. The startup is also working with a “major US upstream operator” and plans to announce a partnership with a European oil company in the coming weeks, Adamson said.
However, Applied Computing is entering a market with industrial software vendors and more focused AI startups. AspenTech sells simulation and AI-powered modeling software for upstream, processing and chemical operations I HAVE offers physics-based process simulation, optimization and “what-if” modeling for industrial enterprises. To know and Search targeting the data layer helps facilities analyze industry data and applies AI to design workflows.
Adamson argues that the company’s moat is not access to industry data or process knowledge, but rather to gather AI researchers to build a model that can compete with Orbital.
“It’s an AI problem. It’s not a data problem and it’s not an energy problem,” he said. “If you’re a first-rate AI researcher, where would you work? … I don’t think Shell is on that list.”
Adamson also pointed to the data Orbital receives through its deployments. According to him, the operational data of refineries and other energy facilities is not generally available to the public, and the simulated data cannot fully reproduce what happens inside a working plant.
A KBR partnership could also help the company. Adamson said the partnership gives Applied Computing access to operational data, industry expertise, and more exposure to potential customers.
Applied Computing plans to use the $20 million to expand internationally, hire for research and engineering roles, and explore applications with energy customers.
On Thursday, the company said it has opened an office in Houston, adding its headquarters in London and an operations center in Bengaluru. Adamson said the US base brings the startup closer to two existing customers in North America, and expansion to the Middle East is also in the works.
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