Applied Computing, a London-based AI company building foundation AI for energy operators, today announced a €17.4 million ($20 million) funding round, as well as its expansion into the United States, with the opening of a new office in Houston, Texas. The round was led by KBR, with Databricks Ventures also
Rahul Raj
Applied Computing, a London-based AI company building foundation AI for energy operators, today announced a €17.4 million ($20 million) funding round, as well as its expansion into the United States, with the opening of a new office in Houston, Texas.
The round was led by KBR, with Databricks Ventures also joining the round as a new investor in the company. In May 2025, the company announced a €10.7 million Seed funding round.
Callum Adamson, CEO and co-founder of Applied Computing, said, “It’s our mission to provide operators with a foundation model that unlocks advantage at scale while delivering pathways to production that are safer, more efficient and far less carbon-intensive. KBR is a natural partner for that mission. Their decades of data, industry domain knowledge and global reach mean we can now accelerate deployment of Orbital across the sector.”
Founded in 2023 by Adamson and Dr Sam Tukra (Chief AI Officer), Applied Computing is building energy’s foundation model. The company claims that its flagship platform, Orbital, is the first foundation model built specifically for energy operations, combining physics-grounded intelligence with models across chemical engineering, time-series forecasting and language.
The company states that Orbital, built using multi-foundation AI, is designed to help operators improve efficiency, reduce emissions, strengthen reliability and make better decisions across some of the most complex industrial systems on Earth. Unlike general-purpose AI tools, it’s purpose-built for real operating environments across upstream, downstream and petrochemical systems.
Applied Computing highlights that Orbital is powered by a new class of models built to optimise the physical world – not just language models but also time series, physics and chemical engineering models delivering explainable AI that can be trusted in real-world applications.
Orbital utilises 100% of available data from downstream energy facilities – compared with 8% captured by traditional methods – and outperforms previously benchmarked state-of-the-art software by 90% in key metrics.
Over the past year, the company has achieved several milestones, including major commercial partnerships, a growing presence in India, and the addition of senior talent from across the energy and AI sectors.
It recently partnered with Databricks, Wipro and an initial ammonia production tie-up with KBR. Additionally, KBR and Applied Computing have entered into a multi-year agreement to deliver exclusive AI products for the energy sector. Over the next few weeks, Applied Computing will announce its first partnership with a European oil major.
In March 2026, KBR launched INSITE 3.0, its digital delivery platform powered by Applied Computing’s Orbital foundation model, marking the first product to integrate Orbital with KBR’s process technology expertise.
KBR Chief Digital and Development Officer Greg Conlon said, “We’re very excited about what this technology could unlock across the full lifecycle for multiple industries, and we’re thrilled to make this investment in Applied Computing to spur future technologies. This investment strengthens KBR’s position at the forefront of applied AI and enables us to scale innovations across our full range of licensed technologies, with the potential to create a new paradigm for OpEx analytics and NextGen CapEx delivery. Together, we’re redefining how AI powers the critical systems that drive global economic growth.”
According to the British startup, the new funding will support its continued international expansion, accelerate commercial deployment with global energy operators, and deepen investment in its AI research organisation led by Dr. Tukra. It has also appointed former Shell AI leader Dan Jeavons as President.
Applied Computing operates in London (headquarters), Bengaluru (operations), and now Houston (US energy industry hub). The opening of the Houston office marks the company’s formal entry into the US market and will support deeper engagement with customers and partners across North America.
