Gridhound has successfully raised half a million euros for its seed round. The new lead investor is a Hamburg-based family office, which brings on board top-class expertise in areas relevant to Gridhound, including intelligent energy metering services and energy supply. The Business Angels Prof. Dr. Klaus-Dieter Maubach, Robert Hienz and Managing Director Dr. Helmut Bergstein, who have already been involved, have used this round to invest again in the spin-off from RWTH Aachen University. The Dutch start-up accelerator-VC Rockstart will also be part of the new shareholder group.
Gridhound uses a patent-pending process that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to enable observability and optimal positioning of measuring points in the distribution grid. The company will use the financial resources especially for customer acquisition and product development.
The Gridhound team combines knowledge and tools from the fields of power systems, AI and software development. This results in a reduced requirement for measurement devices of about 95% compared to the classical state estimation. Due to the experience gained from the positive completion of several EU-Horizon 2020 research projects and after changing the company to a GmbH, Gridhound successfully entered the market in 2019. In close cooperation with European distribution system operators, Gridhound is now demonstrating that the transfer from innovative concept to commercial launch is working.
“Gridhound is a true pioneer in the use of AI in the electricity sector. Distribution system operators must keep up with the ever-increasing challenges posed by the energy transition. With Gridhound’s AI-based software, grid operators gain complete transparency, more quickly and at a significantly lower cost, as to how existing grid capacities can be optimally utilised or where grids need to be expanded,” Prof. Dr. Klaus-Dieter Maubach, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Uniper
Gridhound, Rockstart Energy alumni, has positioned itself as one of the leading AI start-ups and experts in state estimation for distribution grids. The use of AI provides the energy industry with much-needed data, particularly for monitoring and planning purposes. The company promotes the energy transition through its contribution to digitalisation, automation and intelligence in the power grid.
