Applied Computing raises $20 million for energy AI models

Applied Computing has raised $20 million to expand Orbital, its AI platform for energy operations, in a round led by KBR with participation from Databricks Ventures. The London-based company also signed a multi-year agreement with KBR to build exclusive AI products for the energy sector, extending an existing commercial relationship between the two companies.

The company did not disclose its valuation, revenue, headcount, ownership terms or the names of energy customers using its technology. It said the funding will go toward international expansion, including a new office in Houston, as well as additional research and engineering hiring and broader commercial deployment of Orbital.

Purpose-built AI for energy operations

Applied Computing describes Orbital as a foundation AI system built for energy operators rather than a general-purpose model adapted after the fact. The platform combines physics-informed AI with chemical engineering models, time-series forecasting and language models, according to the company.

The claimed use cases sit across upstream, downstream and petrochemical operations. Applied Computing says Orbital is designed to help operators improve efficiency, cut emissions, improve reliability and support operational decisions in real production environments. Those claims remain company claims; Applied Computing did not provide quantitative performance benchmarks, emissions data or customer-level deployment metrics.

The company is headquartered in London and has offices in Bengaluru and Houston. Its India presence has expanded over the past year, according to Applied Computing, alongside new partnerships and hires from the energy and AI sectors. The Houston office gives the company a more direct base in a major energy market as it tries to sell industrial AI into operators and service companies.

KBR deepens its role

KBR’s role is more than financial. The engineering and technology company led the round and is now tied to Applied Computing through a multi-year product development agreement. Applied Computing said the two companies will work on exclusive AI products for energy customers.

Callum Adamson, Applied Computing’s CEO and co-founder, said the investment and KBR partnership are intended to speed up Orbital’s rollout across the global energy industry. He said the company’s goal is to give operators a foundation model that can be used at scale while supporting safer, more efficient and lower-carbon production pathways.

Databricks Ventures’ participation adds a data infrastructure investor to the cap table, though the company did not detail any technical integration with Databricks products. The announcement also did not say whether the round included other investors, whether it was equity or another financing structure, or how much KBR contributed.

The round reflects continued investor interest in vertical AI systems aimed at industries where generic chat interfaces are a poor fit. In energy, the sales cycle, safety requirements and integration burden are heavier than in many software categories. Applied Computing’s next test is whether Orbital can move from strategic partnerships and pilots into repeatable deployments with disclosed operating impact.

This story draws on original reporting from Tech.eu.