Demand for power is skyrocketing globally due to AI and EVs, putting pressure on the electrical grid.
Yottar, a startup, maps electrical grid capacity to help companies determine where to install new data centers, EV charging stations, and other equipment requiring significant power.
“The AI data center boom is colliding with electrification, causing grid operators to struggle with the backlog,” said Yottar’s co-founder and CEO, Peter Clutton-Brock, to TechCrunch.
“In areas like London, most capacity for large-scale data centers is used up. The question is not whether there’s spare capacity, but when upgrades will occur,” he added.
Ancient grids face strain, and startups like Yottar help address this. Companies like Gridcare find unused capacity, while Yottar provides detailed capacity maps for new developments.
“We focus on medium-sized demand developers, those using electricity rather than generating it,” Clutton-Brock explained, typically for 1 to 5 megawatt projects.
Yottar’s clients include Tesla and the U.K.’s NHS. Tesla uses it for locating Supercharger sites, and the NHS identifies locations for EV chargers and other installations.
“They can’t afford site-by-site analysis,” Clutton-Brock noted.
Yottar raised $1 million in a pre-seed round led by Haatch, with a new feature allowing quick site evaluation for upgrades.
They gather data from distribution networks, private sources, and customer connections. Customers pay fees based on site evaluations, with consultants as main competition.
Currently operating in the U.K., Yottar plans to expand to the U.S. and globally. “This is an international problem requiring an international solution,” said Clutton-Brock.