U.S.-based grid technology company Splight has raised $12.4 million in a SAFE round to scale its machine learning-powered solutions that unlock capacity on overloaded electric grids. The round was led by Blue Bear Capital, with participation from ZOMA Capital.
The new capital will be used to expand Splight’s operations in North America and Europe, growing its commercial and technical teams to meet rising power demands.
As electricity consumption spikes—driven by AI data centers, electrification, and renewable energy integration—grid congestion has become a major bottleneck. New transmission projects often take a decade or more, leaving many utilities and large-scale energy users stuck in queue.
Splight aims to address that gap with real-time software tools that boost capacity on existing infrastructure.
“Our technology solves one of the most urgent problems facing the grid today: how to deliver more electricity without waiting years for new transmission to be built,” said Fernando Llaver, CEO and co-founder of Splight.
Unlike Dynamic Line Rating (DLR) systems, which rely on fluctuating weather data, Splight’s platform leverages real-time grid conditions and machine learning algorithms to turn Fast-Responding Assets (FRAs)—like battery storage or data centers—into grid-strengthening resources. The result: consistent, safe gains in transmission capacity, sometimes up to 100%, depending on system characteristics.
Splight will use the fresh capital to scale deployments of DCM across key U.S. markets and launch several new features designed to serve large loads such as AI facilities and data centers.
New tools include:
The company is also relocating to a larger office on San Francisco’s Embarcadero, expanding its Bay Area-based product and engineering teams.
Founded in 2019, Splight operates from its San Francisco HQ with additional offices in Texas, Chile, and Spain. The founding team, which includes CEO Fernando Llaver, brings a mix of deep operational grid knowledge and AI development expertise.
DCM can be deployed in a variety of ways—either by utilities to boost system-wide capacity and reliability, or by individual clean energy projects and data centers that need faster access to the grid. In some cases, customers use the tech to effectively “Bring Your Own Transmission Capacity” (BYOTC)—a term the company is working to popularize.
In addition to lead investor Blue Bear Capital, the round saw participation from ZOMA Capital, the family office of Ben and Lucy Ana Walton. Blue Bear, which specializes in energy and climate tech, has backed a portfolio of companies applying AI and connectivity to energy infrastructure.
“From the moment we met the Splight team, we were impressed with the team's deep operational knowledge of the grid and their machine learning expertise,” said Carolin Funk, partner at Blue Bear Capital. “That unique background and their proven track record of global deployments provide operators of critical energy infrastructure with the confidence to deploy Splight’s technology across grid assets that form the backbone of our economies and societies.”
