vegetation-management
(3)
Neara
Neara is a Sydney-founded software company that builds physics-enabled digital twins of utility networks. By combining LiDAR, satellite imagery, sensor data, AI and engineering-grade physics simulation, it creates geometrically accurate 3D replicas of power grids so utilities can model how their assets behave under real-world stress - wildfires, floods, storms, heat and rising demand. The platform lets operators find spare grid capacity, mitigate risk, plan maintenance and connect renewables faster, often replacing months of manual field inspection with analysis that runs in minutes. In February 2026 Neara raised an AUD $90 million Series D, reaching a roughly AUD $1.1 billion valuation to become one of Australia's newest unicorns.
Gridware
Gridware builds pole-mounted sensors and an analytics platform that give electric utilities real-time awareness of what is physically happening on their power lines. Its Gridscope device measures mechanical, electrical, and environmental signals directly at the pole, and its Active Grid Response platform turns those signals into immediate hazard detection, precise fault localization, and faster outage response. Founded in 2020 by three UC Berkeley graduate students - including a former lineman - Gridware aims to close the 'hazard awareness delay' that leaves utilities blind to fallen limbs and damaged lines until after they spark outages or wildfires.
Earth Force Technologies
Earth Force Technologies is a San Francisco climate-tech company modernizing wildfire prevention. It builds precision-forestry sensors, in-cabin tablets, and a web portal that give crews real-time, tree-level guidance during fuel-treatment work and let administrators oversee far more acres from a desk. By combining teleoperated machinery, jobsite connectivity, and automated reporting, the company aims to make landscape-scale forest treatments faster, safer, and cheaper - so states, federal agencies, and conservation districts can reduce catastrophic fire risk at the pace the crisis demands.