ABB Invests In Ndustrial To Accelerate Decarbonization Through AI-Powered Energy Management Technologies – CleanTechnica

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• Clean technology startup Ndustrial will enhance ABB’s digital and sustainability portfolios with energy optimization solutions that take into account complete production processes
• Investment complements ABB’s service offering with AI-powered predictive energy management solutions that reduce energy and carbon intensity and enable more sustainable operations
• Together with recent investment in GridBeyond, transaction will further strengthen ABB Electrification’s innovation ecosystem

ABB today announced a minority investment in Ndustrial, a US-based clean technology startup that has developed a leading-edge, AI-powered energy management platform. This innovative technology enables smarter, production-aware energy decisions in real time, helping customers reduce operating costs, optimize energy consumption and accelerate decarbonization. The investment was made through ABB Ventures. Financial details were not disclosed.

The transaction follows ABB taking a minority stake in GridBeyond in April 2024, a start-up providing energy management solutions based on AI and data science that will enable customers to optimize distributed energy resources and industrial loads.

Ndustrial helps companies measure and reduce their energy intensity — the energy required for a pre-defined unit of output or activity. By integrating multiple, and often disparate, data sources such as weather, market rates, equipment performance, industrial process outputs and more, companies can analyze, optimize and predict their energy usage and costs per unit of production. This enables real-time decisions, as well as actionable insights and automated control specific to the industry, facility or production line being optimized.

“Championing sustainability and guiding customers to achieve net zero carbon is at the core of what we do,” said Stuart Thompson, President, ABB Electrification Service. “Through our Advisory Services we are building an ecosystem of innovative, nimble partners to co-develop advancements in digital solutions to complement our portfolio and enhance the availability, resilience, safety and sustainability of energy for customers.

“This partnership with Ndustrial means we can accelerate decarbonization for our customers by leveraging AI-powered predictions to make decisions in real-time so they can optimize production, save energy, and reduce costs and emissions.”

Twice named as one of the World’s Top 100 Energy & Climate Tech startups by Start Up Energy Transition (powered by the German Energy Agency in cooperation with the World Energy Council), Ndustrial’s vision complements ABB’s drive to enable the energy transformation and decarbonization of industry. The company has around 40 employees.

Ndustrial’s Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer John Crawford said: “In a world preoccupied with AI that often delivers nebulous benefits, Ndustrial stands out for our decade of experience quantifying impressive payoffs from machine learning optimizations. Our team of industrial engineers and software developers have created a new kind of energy management system for industrial operations, and with ABB’s expertise and global reach, we’ll be able to make a real impact in accelerating the global energy transition. We are all extremely excited to see how far and how fast we can go.”

To date, Ndustrial has helped companies avoid over $100 million in energy costs over 10 years. Lineage, a global cold storage leader, saw a 30 percent reduction in both energy costs and energy intensity, over seven years, equivalent to powering 250,000 homes annually.

Mads Moeller, Head of ABB Electrification Ventures, said, “Ndustrial’s track record, technology platform and experienced team make them stand out. Our investment reflects ABB’s commitment to innovative companies driving industrial electrification and energy savings for customers.”

ABB is a technology leader in electrification and automation, enabling a more sustainable and resource-efficient future. The company’s solutions connect engineering know-how and software to optimize how things are manufactured, moved, powered and operated. Building on over 140 years of excellence, ABB’s more than 105,000 employees are committed to driving innovations that accelerate industrial transformation. www.abb.com

ABB Ventures is the venture capital unit of ABB. Since 2021, the ABB Electrification Ventures team has invested in 12 companies supporting the ABB Electrification business area. It is part of the business-led venture capital investment framework, ABB Ventures, dedicated to discovering breakthrough technology companies that align with ABB’s vision for industrial electrification and automation. Since 2009, ABB Ventures has invested more than $400 million in startups across diverse sectors, including industrial IoT, AI/machine learning, robotics, energy transition, cybersecurity, electric mobility, smart buildings, and distributed energy. For more information, visit  www.abb.com/ventures.

Ndustrial exists to accelerate the optimization of Energy Intensity in industrial facilities and has helped avoid over $100 million in energy spend. Their production-first approach helps clients find — and automate — the energy-saving opportunities that make sense for them. Their Energy Intensity platform integrates over 60 different systems into a single view to enable smarter energy decisions in real time. Ndustrial was named one of the World’s Top 100 Energy & Climate Tech startups for their work to drive down Energy Intensity, decrease costs and increase sustainable operations inside the walls of every industrial facility. Learn more at ndustrial.io.

Press release from ABB