# Amit Narayan

> Amit Narayan is the Co-Founder and CEO of GridCARE, a Redwood City-based generative AI company that unlocks hidden power grid capacity to slash data center connection timelines from 5-7 years to 6-12 months. A serial entrepreneur with a PhD from UC Berkeley and a B.Tech from IIT Kanpur, he previously founded AutoGrid (acquired by Schneider Electric in 2022) and Berkeley Design Automation (acquired by Mentor Graphics in 2014), and holds 7 U.S. patents across semiconductor design and energy software. GridCARE emerged from stealth in May 2025 with a $13.5M seed round led by Xora and backed by Tom Steyer, Ram Shriram, and Breakthrough Energy, targeting what Narayan calls the defining constraint on AI: immediate access to power.

- **Role:** Co-Founder and CEO at GridCARE
- **Organizations:** GridCARE, Aina Climate AI Ventures, AutoGrid (acquired by Schneider Electric), Berkeley Design Automation (acquired by Mentor Graphics), Magma Design Automation, Stanford University
- **Nationality:** American (Indian origin)
- **Education:** B.Tech., Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley
- **Known for:** Founded GridCARE, which unlocks hidden grid capacity reducing data center time-to-power from 5-7 years to 6-12 months, Founded AutoGrid, which managed 8,000+ MW of Virtual Power Plants across 15+ countries before acquisition by Schneider Electric, Founded Berkeley Design Automation (2003), acquired by Mentor Graphics/Siemens in 2014

## Career timeline

- **2003** — Founded Berkeley Design Automation, a semiconductor verification startup
- **2012** — Founded AutoGrid; also joined Stanford University as Director of Smart Grid Research
- **2014** — Berkeley Design Automation acquired by Mentor Graphics (Siemens)
- **2022** — AutoGrid acquired by Schneider Electric (May 2022, completed September 2022); AutoGrid had managed 8,000+ MW of Virtual Power Plants across 15+ countries
- **2023** — Founded Aina Climate AI Ventures, a climate-focused AI venture fund and company creation studio
- **2024** — Co-founded GridCARE (June 2024), incubated through Stanford Sustainability Accelerator
- **2025** — GridCARE emerged from stealth with $13.5M seed round (May 27, 2025); first major utility partnership with Portland General Electric in Oregon unlocking 80+ MW
- **2026** — GridCARE named to Fast Company's World's Most Innovative Companies; National Grid partnership announced; Ram Shriram joins GridCARE board

## Achievements

- Founded GridCARE, which unlocks hidden grid capacity reducing data center time-to-power from 5-7 years to 6-12 months
- Founded AutoGrid, which managed 8,000+ MW of Virtual Power Plants across 15+ countries before acquisition by Schneider Electric
- Founded Berkeley Design Automation (2003), acquired by Mentor Graphics/Siemens in 2014
- At Magma Design Automation, helped develop semiconductor design software used to design over one-third of all advanced chips worldwide
- Holds 7 U.S. patents
- Published 25+ research papers
- World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer designation
- Bloomberg New Energy Pioneer award
- Fast Company World's Most Innovative Companies 2026 (Applied AI, Energy, and Small and Mighty categories)
- EDN Innovation for the Year
- GridCARE's DeFlex platform identified 100+ GW of hidden capacity in the U.S. grid
- GridCARE's Oregon project with Portland General Electric: 80+ MW energized by 2026, 400+ MW by 2029
- Secured backing from Tom Steyer, Ram Shriram, Gokul Rajaram, and Breakthrough Energy for GridCARE
- Agenda Contributor, World Economic Forum

## Latest updates

- **2026-03** — GridCARE named to Fast Company's World's Most Innovative Companies for 2026 in Applied AI, Energy, and Small and Mighty categories
- **2026-03** — National Grid and GridCARE announced collaboration to unlock grid capacity for large infrastructure loads in New York
- **2026-01** — Ram Shriram (founding board member of Google) joined GridCARE's board of directors
- **2025-10** — Portland General Electric and GridCARE partnership launched in Hillsboro, Oregon; National Grid Partners invested in Aina Climate AI Ventures
- **2025-05** — GridCARE emerged from stealth with $13.5M seed round led by Xora (backed by Temasek), co-investors include Breakthrough Energy, Sherpalo Ventures, Tom Steyer, Ram Shriram

## Links

- Website: https://gridcare.ai
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/amitnarayan

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/amit-narayan
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-14