AI data center grid flexibility technology company Emerald AI announced that it has raised $150 million in a Series A funding round, with proceeds aimed at accelerating commercial deployment of its technology to transform AI data centers into flexible assets for the power grid.
The new financing round values Emerald AI at $1.05 billion.
According to Emerald AI the new funding round comes as power demand by AI infrastructure increases rapidly, with data centers projected to account for nearly half of the growth in U.S. electricity demand through 2030, while building new grid infrastructure can take a decade or more.
Founded in 2024, Washington, D.C.-based Emerald AI develops software designed to transform AI data centers into flexible, grid-responsive assets. The company’s Emerald Conductor software platform dynamically orchestrates AI computational workloads and onsite energy resources to control a facility’s power draw when the grid is stressed while protecting the performance of critical AI workloads.
The company said that rather than treating data centers as inflexible consumers of electricity, its technology transforms them into intelligent, responsive assets designed to support grid reliability and energy affordability for local communities.
Emerald AI said that its technology enables data centers to connect to the grid faster and at larger scale, while supporting grid reliability during periods of stress. According to the company, applying its approach across the AI data center build-out could unlock more than 100 GW of capacity on the existing U.S. power grid, making power available years before new infrastructure can be built.
To date, the company has completed five commercial demonstrations around the world and has now entered commercial scaling, including a deployment across an entire data center in California that demonstrated grid-responsive power flexibility during peak grid strain.
The company said that it will use the new capital to scale commercial deployments with its customers across the AI power value chain, including AI firms, data center operators, and electric power utilities.
Dr. Varun Sivaram, Emerald AI Founder and CEO, said:
“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. Today that technology runs commercially at full data center scale, and this financing lets us take it everywhere AI is built, so the AI era can accelerate while the grid becomes more reliable and more affordable for the communities it serves.”
The funding round was co-led by Energize Capital and DCVC, with participation from investors including NVIDIA, Samsung Ventures, Siemens, Aramco Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, GE Vernova, RWE, JERA Ventures, ADVentures, Sabanci Climate Ventures, In-Q-Tel (IQT), Radical Ventures, Energy Impact Partners, Lowercarbon Capital, Marunouchi Innovation Partners, Emerson Collective, The Olayan Group, the Temerty Group, John Doerr, Tom Steyer, Earthshot Ventures, Collective Global, and General Catalyst’s scout fund.
Zachary Bogue, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, DCVC, said:
“Emerald AI’s compute workload orchestration platform makes flexibility a permanent feature of how data centers are powered. This turns data centers into grid-responsive assets instead of energy-hogging liabilities—increasing America’s strength in AI, decreasing rises in electrical bills for communities, and protecting the environment. This is deep tech at its best.”
