How a London AI Startup Just Raised $20M to Transform the Energy Industry

Jan de Vries · 2026-07-16

### The Big News: Applied Computing Lands $20M and Opens a Houston Office Applied Computing, a London-based AI company building foundation models for energy operators, just announced a $20 million funding round. That's not all -- they're also expanding into the United States with a brand-new office in Houston, Texas. This isn't just another AI funding story. It's a signal that specialized AI for heavy industries is finally getting the attention it deserves. ### Who's Betting on Them? The round was led by KBR, a global engineering and construction giant. Databricks Ventures also joined as a new investor. This follows a $12 million Seed round the company closed back in May 2025. Callum Adamson, CEO and co-founder of Applied Computing, put it simply: "It's our mission to provide operators with a foundation model that unlocks advantage at scale while delivering pathways to production that are safer, more efficient and far less carbon-intensive. KBR is a natural partner for that mission." ### What Makes Orbital Different? Founded in 2023 by Adamson and Dr. Sam Tukra (Chief AI Officer), the company is building what they call energy's foundation model. Their flagship platform, Orbital, is the first foundation model built specifically for energy operations. Here's what sets it apart: - **It's purpose-built**, not a repurposed chatbot. Orbital combines physics-grounded intelligence with models across chemical engineering, time-series forecasting, and language. - **It uses 100% of available data** from downstream energy facilities -- compared to just 8% captured by traditional methods. - **It outperforms previous state-of-the-art software by 90%** in key metrics. Unlike general-purpose AI tools, Orbital is designed for real operating environments across upstream, downstream, and petrochemical systems. It's not about generating text -- it's about optimizing the physical world. ### Recent Milestones and Partnerships The company has been busy. Over the past year, they've: - Partnered with Databricks and Wipro - Entered an initial ammonia production tie-up with KBR - Signed a multi-year agreement to deliver exclusive AI products for the energy sector - Grown their presence in India - Added senior talent from across the energy and AI sectors In March 2026, KBR launched INSITE 3.0, a digital delivery platform powered by Orbital. It's the first product to integrate Orbital with KBR's process technology expertise. ### What the New Funding Will Do According to the company, the new cash will support continued international expansion, accelerate commercial deployment with global energy operators, and deepen investment in their AI research organization led by Dr. Tukra. They've also appointed former Shell AI leader Dan Jeavons as President -- a clear sign they're serious about scaling. ### Where They Operate Applied Computing now has three offices: - **London** (headquarters) - **Bengaluru** (operations) - **Houston** (US energy industry hub) The Houston office is especially strategic. It puts them right in the heart of the US energy sector, where many of the world's largest oil and gas companies are based. ### Why This Matters Energy operators face massive challenges: improving efficiency, reducing emissions, strengthening reliability, and making better decisions across some of the most complex industrial systems on Earth. General-purpose AI tools just don't cut it for those environments. Orbital is powered by a new class of models built to optimize the physical world -- not just language models but also time series, physics, and chemical engineering models delivering explainable AI that can be trusted in real-world applications. KBR Chief Digital and Development Officer Greg Conlon summed it up: "We're very excited about what this technology could unlock across the full lifecycle for multiple industries. Together, we're redefining how AI powers the critical systems that drive global economic growth." ### The Bottom Line Applied Computing is proving that specialized AI for heavy industries isn't just a nice-to-have -- it's a necessity. With $32 million in total funding, a growing team, and major partnerships in place, they're positioning themselves as a key player in the energy transition. Keep an eye on this space. Over the next few weeks, the company will announce its first partnership with a European oil major. That could be a game-changer.