Emerald AI has raised $150 million in Series A funding at a $1.05 billion valuation, marking a major step forward in its effort to address one of artificial intelligence’s fastest-growing constraints: access to reliable electricity.
The oversubscribed financing was co-led by Energize Capital and DCVC and brings Emerald AI’s total funding raised to more than $220 million. The Washington-based company plans to use the new capital to expand commercial deployments of its technology, which enables AI data centers to dynamically adjust their electricity consumption in response to power grid conditions.
Emerald AI is developing an alternative to the traditional model in which data centers operate largely as inflexible electricity consumers. Its software is designed to transform them into responsive grid assets that can reduce or shift power consumption when electricity networks are under stress.
The company says the approach could unlock more than 100 gigawatts of additional capacity on the existing U.S. electric grid, potentially allowing more AI infrastructure to come online without waiting years for new transmission lines, power plants and other major grid upgrades.
Emerald Conductor Targets AI’s Growing Power Challenge
At the center of Emerald AI’s technology is its Emerald Conductor software platform, which coordinates AI computing workloads with onsite energy resources to manage how much electricity a data center draws from the grid.
The platform can reduce or adjust power consumption during periods of high electricity demand while protecting critical computing workloads. That capability could become increasingly important as AI data centers consume a larger share of available power.
According to the International Energy Agency, data centers are projected to represent nearly half of the growth in U.S. electricity demand through 2030. At the same time, major new electric grid infrastructure can take a decade or longer to develop.
Emerald AI Founder and CEO Dr. Varun Sivaram said the company was founded on the belief that AI itself could help address the power limitations posed by rapid growth in AI infrastructure.
“Our demonstrations around the world proved that data centers can adjust their power use precisely when the grid needs relief, without compromising critical computing workloads,” Sivaram said.
Emerald AI Moves From Demonstrations to Commercial Deployment
Emerald AI has completed five commercial demonstrations at data centers in Arizona, Illinois, Virginia, Oregon and London. Those projects involved companies and organizations including NVIDIA, EPRI, Oracle, Nebius and National Grid, along with regional utilities and grid operators.
The company has now moved into commercial scaling.
Its software has been deployed at multi-megawatt, full data-center scale, and Emerald AI says it serves customers including AI companies, global data center operators, and electric power utilities.
In California, Emerald AI worked with Silicon Valley Power to launch what it describes as the first Flexible Load Interconnection Program of its kind in the United States. Under the model, data centers can gain greater access to grid capacity in exchange for providing verified, dispatchable reductions in electricity demand when needed.
Emerald AI is also working with Digital Realty and NVIDIA in Manassas, Virginia, on what the companies describe as the world’s first power-flexible AI factory.
The nearly 100-megawatt Vera Rubin AI Research Factory is being tested in collaboration with EPRI, Dominion Energy, and PJM Interconnection and is expected to come online later in 2026.
Major Global Investors Back Emerald AI
The Series A attracted participation from a wide range of strategic and financial investors spanning the technology and energy industries.
Participants included NVIDIA, Samsung Ventures, Siemens, Aramco Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, GE Vernova, RWE, JERA Ventures, In-Q-Tel, Radical Ventures, Energy Impact Partners, Lowercarbon Capital, Emerson Collective, General Catalyst’s scout fund, and others.
Emerald AI now counts 12 Fortune Global 500 companies as investors, several of which also participate in its Strategic Advisory Board to assist with product integration and commercial deployment.
Energize Capital Managing Partner John Tough called electricity the emerging constraint on AI development, arguing that software-based flexibility could provide one of the fastest paths to expanding capacity.
Building AI Infrastructure Without Overwhelming the Grid
Emerald AI’s rapid funding growth reflects a broader challenge facing the AI industry. Massive investments in semiconductors, cloud computing and data center construction are colliding with electric grids that were not designed for the pace or concentration of current AI power demand.
Instead of relying exclusively on building new electricity infrastructure, Emerald AI is betting that making AI data centers more flexible can allow existing grid infrastructure to support significantly more computing capacity.
If successful at scale, that approach could provide a new path for expanding AI infrastructure while helping utilities protect grid reliability and limiting pressure on electricity costs for surrounding communities.
The company’s progress has already earned wider recognition. Emerald AI was recently named among the 2026 TIME100 Most Influential Companies and selected as a 2026 Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum.
With $150 million in new capital and commercial deployments underway, Emerald AI is positioning power flexibility as a critical component of the next stage of AI infrastructure growth.
