Industrial automation startup Gigaton announced that it has raised $26 million in a Series A funding round, with proceeds from the financing to be used to support a significant buildout of its AI-powered technology for its mission “to remove gigatons of CO2 from energy-intensive industries.”

Founded in 2020, and recently rebranded from Carbon Re, UK-based Gigaton provides AI-powered autonomous plant control and optimization software systems that control large and complex manufacturing systems. The company’s self-learning technology operates deep within plant infrastructure, simulating process behavior and forecasting the impact of each action before it is taken, allowing it to autonomously adjust key parameters, including fuel mix, kiln speed, and oxygen levels, resulting in lower energy costs and reduced emissions.

Gigaton’s technology is currently deployed by several of the world’s largest cement producers, including Adani Cement, Heidelberg Materials, and Holcim, delivering between $1 million to $3 million in savings and reducing emissions by 30,000 tonnes of CO₂ per plant, the company said.

The company said that the new funding will support a 5x increase in its team, as well as its expansion into new energy intensive sectors including steel, glass, and chemicals.

According to Gigaton, its expansion plans come as soaring energy costs, increased complexity and new fuel types are squeezing margins in energy-intensive sectors, in addition to creating excess carbon emissions and process instability.

Gigaton CEO Josh Vernon said:

“The underlying software infrastructure most plants run on today was never built to manage the complexity plants are forced to deal with today. We have built Gigaton to deliver real cost and carbon savings now while building the AI infrastructure these industries need in a fully autonomous future.”

The Series A round was led by early-stage investment fund Plural, and included participation from 2150, and Semapa Next, as well as from existing investors Planet A Ventures, Cambridge Enterprise Ventures, UCL Technology Fund, and Clean Growth Fund.

Carina Namih, Partner at Plural, said:

“Cement, glass, and steel are the materials civilisation runs on, but producing them consumes about a quarter of global energy. The Gigaton team combines deep AI expertise with years spent inside these plants understanding how they actually operate. By running a single facility using Gigaton’s AI, Adani, Heidelberg, and Holcim are already saving millions a year. The scale from here is enormous.”