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UK AI startup Applied Computing, which is focused on building AI foundation models specifically for the Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Industries, has announced a €10.7m (£9m) Seed funding round led by Stride.VC with Repeat.vc. The raise is reportedly among the largest ever for a UK-based AI firm at Seed stage.
Founded in 2023 by Callum Adamson (CEO) and Dr Sam Tukra (Chief AI Officer), Applied Computing is working with complex industrial sites and even large oil refineries thanks to their flagship product: Orbital. Orbital is built using multi-foundation AI, it’s powered by a new class of models built to optimise the physical world – not just language models but also time series, physics and chemical engineering models delivering explainable AI that can be trusted in real-world applications
“Refining is where complexity, scale, and impact converge. It’s not just hard – it’s the apex of validation. If you can build intelligence that works here, it will work anywhere,” said Callum Adamson, CEO of Applied Computing.
Orbital utilises 100% of available data from downstream energy facilities – compared to 8% captured by traditional methods – and is reportedly outperforming previously benchmarked state-of-the-art software by 90% in key metrics. In live deployments, Applied Computing claims Orbital can deliver an estimated 75% cost saving versus traditional cloud-based data platforms, with a payback period of under 10 weeks. The company has doubled in size since January and is preparing for a Series A in H2 2025.
The complexity and scale of infrastructure across heavy industry is immense, coupled with a huge legacy burden, with some facilities over 50 years old, as well as ageing IT systems. As energy and chemical demand rises steeply at a global level, these essential industries are trying to transform, turning to technologies like AI to help drive significant financial, productivity and environmental improvements. The Energy (and utilities) industry represents a huge opportunity for SITS providers, especially in regards to AI adoption. Those that can successfully help organisations overcome the complexity of integrating the latest technologies with these legacy systems, amidst highly regulated and industry specific processes, are going to reap significant rewards.
Posted by: Simon Baxter at 09:41
Tags:
AI
Energy&Utilties