# Timothy Barat

> Timothy Barat is the co-founder and CEO of Gridware, a San Francisco climate-tech company that builds pole-mounted sensors to detect power grid failures before they cause outages or wildfires. A former electrical lineworker from Victoria, Australia who lived through the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires, Barat moved to the United States, earned bachelor's and master's degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences from UC Berkeley, and founded Gridware in 2020 with Hall Chen and Abdulrahman Bin Omar. His Gridscope device, described as a 'Fitbit for power poles,' listens to the mechanical and electrical signals of the grid to pinpoint hazards. Gridware has raised roughly $97 million to date, including a $55 million Series B in November 2025, and its co-founders were named to Forbes' 30 Under 30 Social Impact list.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & CEO at Gridware
- **Organizations:** Gridware, UC Berkeley (Lab11 Embedded Systems Research)
- **From:** Victoria, Australia
- **Nationality:** Australian
- **Education:** B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS), University of California, Berkeley, M.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS), University of California, Berkeley
- **Known for:** Co-founded Gridware and grew it to monitor more than 1,000 miles of power lines across roughly 10,000 poles for 18 utilities., Named to Forbes 30 Under 30 (Social Impact) alongside co-founders Hall Chen and Abdulrahman Bin Omar., Gridware's Gridscope recognized as one of Time magazine's Best Inventions of 2022.

## Career timeline

- **2009** — Working as an electrical lineworker in Victoria, Australia during the Black Saturday bushfires, which killed 173 people; many fires were sparked by downed power lines.
- **2013** — Moved to the United States; stepped away from high-voltage line work and returned to education.
- **2019** — Earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences from UC Berkeley.
- **2020** — Earned an M.S. in EECS from UC Berkeley and co-founded Gridware with Hall Chen and Abdulrahman Bin Omar.
- **2022** — Gridware's Gridscope named one of Time magazine's Best Inventions of 2022.
- **2023** — Barat, Chen and Bin Omar named to Forbes 30 Under 30 in the Social Impact category.
- **2025** — Closed a $26.4M Series A led by Sequoia Capital in January; closed a $55M Series B in November co-led by Tiger Global and Generation Investment Management.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Gridware and grew it to monitor more than 1,000 miles of power lines across roughly 10,000 poles for 18 utilities.
- Named to Forbes 30 Under 30 (Social Impact) alongside co-founders Hall Chen and Abdulrahman Bin Omar.
- Gridware's Gridscope recognized as one of Time magazine's Best Inventions of 2022.
- Raised roughly $97 million in total funding, including a $55M Series B in November 2025.
- Earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in EECS from UC Berkeley after starting as a high school dropout and lineworker.
- Built a full-scale test grid with 55-foot poles and 200-foot spans to validate the technology before deployment.

## Latest updates

- **2025-11** — Gridware closed a $55 million Series B growth round co-led by Tiger Global Management and Generation Investment Management, with participation from Sequoia, True Ventures, Lowercarbon, Convective Capital, Fifty Years and Y Combinator, to accelerate US deployments and support global expansion.
- **2025-01** — Gridware raised a $26.4 million Series A led by Sequoia Capital; Barat noted the company was already cash-flow positive before the round.

## Links

- Website: https://gridware.io
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/timothybarat
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/GridwareInc
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/GridwareInc/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/timothy-barat
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-24