Applied Computing secures $20 million Series A to scale oil and gas AI model
Led by engineering firm KBR with participation from Databricks Ventures, the funding round supports international expansion and the development of an AI system designed to optimise operations across the energy sector.
London-based startup Applied Computing has raised $20 million in a Series A funding round led by engineering firm KBR, with participation from Databricks Ventures. The capital injection is intended to accelerate the development and global deployment of Orbital, a foundation AI model specifically engineered for the oil, gas, and petrochemical industries. The company, which was founded in 2023, has already achieved double-digit millions in annual recurring revenue within 18 months of emerging from stealth.
The startup addresses a critical inefficiency in industrial operations where facilities generate vast amounts of sensor data but utilise less than eight per cent for decision-making. Co-founder and chief executive officer Callum Adamson stated that the challenge lies in integrating time-series data, physics-based models, and language models in real time. Unlike standard large language models, Orbital combines these data streams to predict facility states, allowing operators to simulate how changes in one part of a plant might affect overall operations.
Commercial traction for the model is already evident. KBR has integrated Orbital into its INSITE 3.0 digital platform for energy projects and is utilising the product for ammonia production. The startup also maintains a partnership with Indian energy services firm Wipro. Adamson confirmed that Orbital is currently in use by several large, publicly listed upstream, downstream, and petrochemical companies, though specific customer numbers were not disclosed.
The company is expanding its physical footprint to support this growth, having recently opened an office in Houston. This addition complements its headquarters in London and operational hub in Bengaluru. The US base is designed to bring the startup closer to existing North American customers and facilitate further expansion into the Middle East. The new funding will also be directed towards hiring research and engineering talent.
Applied Computing enters a competitive landscape populated by established industrial software suppliers such as AspenTech, AVEVA, Cognite, and Seeq. Adamson argues that the company’s competitive advantage stems from its AI research capabilities rather than access to proprietary industrial data. He noted that operational data from refineries is rarely public and that simulated data often fails to replicate real-world plant conditions, positioning Orbital’s ability to process real-time, multi-modal data as a distinct differentiator.
