Energy grid digital twin platform Neara turns unicorn with $90 million Series D
Australian grid-modelling startup Neara raised a $90 million Series D led by TCV, valuing the company above $1 billion, funding ML and expansion.
Startup · $5m raised
Every investor coverage indicates participated in a round Ausnet raised.
| Investor | Rounds | Invested |
|---|---|---|
| Australian Government | Grant | - |
| Federal Government | Grant | - |
Companies Ausnet acquired or merged with, per published coverage. Buying a company is not investing in one: nothing here counts in the deals column.
| Name | Role | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Chad Hymas | Executive GM of Growth and Future Networks | ARENA |
Stories naming Ausnet. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
Australian grid-modelling startup Neara raised a $90 million Series D led by TCV, valuing the company above $1 billion, funding ML and expansion.
Fourteen projects won grants under the federal government's Grid Enhancing Technologies program, including EV charging firms Jet Charge and Charge Hub Australia, to show how EVs and other tech can ease grid constraints.
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Neara joins the unicorn club after a TCV-led $90 million Series D at a $1.1 billion valuation, with existing backers participating; funds will fuel global expansion and engineering hires.
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ARENA awards Mondo Power a $12.3 million grant to build and run a shared electric truck charging hub for heavy freight vehicles in Melbourne's west, delivered through the Driving the Nation Program.
Weekly roundup of eight Australian startup raises, led by Sonder's $40 million round, plus AMP's $20 million raise and acquisition of the Shopify app Back in Stock.
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Brisbane-based EcoJoule Energy has brought in $15 million from investors Ellerston Capital and Fifth Estate Asset Management, its first institutional money, to fund manufacturing expansion and international growth.
ARENA commits $2.4 million to EVX for 250 kerbside EV chargers across three Australian states, funded through the Driving the Nation Program, with electricity distributors and a retailer supporting the rollout.
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FRV Australia proceeds with its Terang battery in Victoria after a $1.2 billion portfolio refinancing; the piece also recalls a state grant and the 2021 project purchase from Ace Energy.
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The Victorian network company has reshaped its executive team around four business lines, appointing leaders for each, saying the changes will unlock grid capacity and speed connections for new generation.
ARENA grants GridWise Energy Solutions $337,000 toward its Dynamic Model Validation project, an online platform that lets renewable generators pre-check their models for faster grid entry.
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ARENA has granted AEMO $1.2 million, with AusNet as partner, to design shared digital infrastructure for integrating consumer energy resources into the National Electricity Market, building on the earlier Project EDGE trial.
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Victoria's first funding round under its expanded neighbourhood battery program backs 25 batteries across six projects, with AusNet and its Mondo arm taking the largest share and several community energy groups also funded.
A rolling roundup of Australian energy-sector job moves, listing dozens of executives, directors and ministers joining or leaving utilities, regulators, developers and industry bodies between May and December 2023.
A profile of PowerTec, the battery-systems company Michael Jansen founded in 2014, covering its grid projects, an award-winning trial, ARENA-backed work, and ambitions in a market it values at hundreds of millions.
Ex-Clean Energy Finance Corporation chief Oliver Yates becomes chair of battery developer GMR Energy, which last year acquired Maoneng's storage portfolio and is advancing a grid-scale battery in Victoria with AusNet.
Energy software firm Grid Cognition has banked $2.25 million to support a British market entry, counting Ampol, Origin Energy and Ausnet among its customers, in news shared by its backer Alberts.
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Energy software firm Gridcognition closed a $2.25 million seed round; CEFC committed $625,000 through its innovation fund alongside Alberts Impact Ventures, Afterwork Ventures and angel investors, taking total funding near $4 million.
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ARENA grants Jemena $1.6 million for a residential EV smart charging trial with four electricity networks, and recalls earlier support for EV charging projects by Origin, AGL, ActewAGL, Chargefox and Evie Networks.
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ARENA grants AEMO $12.9 million for Project Edge, a Victorian trial building a distributed energy resources marketplace with partners AusNet Services and Mondo.
ARENA grants SA Power Networks $2.09 million for a trial of flexible solar grid connections using smart inverters, with AusNet Services and inverter makers as partners.
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ARENA grants $1.28 million to Australian Gas Networks to establish a centre studying hydrogen blending in South Australian and Victorian gas pipelines, with extra support from state governments and energy companies.
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A government renewable energy agency announces a grant to back a clean energy accelerator's programs for startups, and notes that one company it previously supported has just closed a funding round.
Australia's renewable energy agency has granted $9.6 million across twelve distributed-energy projects and studies, including Zeppelin Bend, a Victorian solar grid trial, ANU and CSIRO.
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