NVentures, the chip giant’s investment arm, invested in a US$28-million Series A round for New York-based ThinkLabs and a US$25 million strategic round for Washington, D.C.-headquartered Emerald AI. Toronto’s Radical Ventures also participated in the latter financing. (The Logic)

Talking point: In different ways, both startups are using AI to try to address the problems utilities face managing and protecting power grids experiencing a lot of demand—including from the AI boom. Data centres use Emerald’s software to prioritize AI workloads, tweaking when and where processing happens based on energy availability. That should free up capacity when the grid is hottest. ThinkLabs, meanwhile, builds so-called digital twins of utility clients’ networks that they can use to spot potential problems, then adds on AI agents that can help staff with planning and other tasks. Josh Wong, the firm’s Toronto-based CEO and founder, previously started another grid startup and sold it to GE.