OTTAWA — Ottawa artificial intelligence company BluWave-ai has closed $8.1 million in new financing as it begins its tenth year of operations. The funding round combines a Series A-2 equity investment, non-dilutive federal project financing and operational credit facilities from the Royal Bank of Canada and the Bank of Montreal. The company said the capital will strengthen its Canadian operations, engineering team and patent portfolio while funding international business development and expansion in partnership with Global Affairs Canada. The firm uses AI to optimize renewable energy, battery storage, dynamic electricity pricing, electric vehicle charging and data centre energy use in real time. Its technology is deployed on grids in North America and Asia. In Ontario, BluWave-ai has partnered with utilities including Oakville Hydro, Oshawa Power and Essex Powerlines to build a province-wide electric vehicle-based energy storage system. The company said its software shifts EV charging demand in real time to prevent local grid overloads, reduce reliance on natural gas power and defer costly grid upgrades.
"For the last nine years our team has been patenting, building, and deploying foundational products for the emerging economies built around wind and solar power along with storage and electrified transportation before these technologies reached critical mass of technology acceptance and volume growth: Now with renewable energy over 1GW added capacity per day, the IEA reporting global electric car sales reaching 30% and projecting over 125 TWh of data center capacity further constraining grids, all drives the need for our technology," said Devashish Paul, CEO and founder of BluWave-ai. He said substantial interest from private equity, institutional investors and utilities led the board and existing investors to close another private capital round. Paul said injecting this A-2 capital before an expected larger institutional investment round was the right growth step. The round included new and returning international angel and family office investors, including several from the Capital Angels Network. To guide its commercial growth, BluWave-ai has appointed two new members to its board of directors. Mario Montana brings decades of operational leadership in the semiconductor and energy sectors. Suzanne Grant, a veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces and executive director of the Capital Angels Network, adds experience in venture financing and scaling tech companies.
"The global energy sector is undergoing a fundamental transformation, driven by the rapid growth of renewable energy, electric transportation, and increasingly power-intensive data centers", said Mario Montana, board director at BluWave-ai. He said the company is uniquely positioned to capitalize on this opportunity with proven technology and a strong intellectual property portfolio. Grant said investors from the Capital Angels Network are excited to enable the team to have a transformational impact on Canadian and international electricity grids and electrified transport. The company holds 17 granted or allowed international patents with more than 84 filed. It is also using federal non-dilutive financing to enhance its Energy Storage Autopilot product, which has multi-year deployments in Canada. Sonya Shorey, president and CEO of Invest Ottawa, said BluWave-ai exemplifies the potential of Canadian innovation to address global challenges while building competitive companies. RBC and BMO expressed their support for the company's growth.