EnergyLab has announced the ten startups selected to take part in the 2025 Energy Scaleup Program, partnering with leading Australian energy companies to fast-track the transition to a decarbonised Australian grid.
Now in its sixth year, the Scaleup Program is designed to connect pilot ready clean energy startups with electricity network operators to explore real-world pilots and commercial partnerships.
The 2025 cohort includes startups headquartered in Australia, Germany, UK, Switzerland and the USA, bringing a global perspective to some of Australia’s most pressing energy system challenges. The program’s focus areas for 2025 were determined in collaboration with industry partners to find solutions for Australia’s immediate needs. This year startups were selected that are innovating across vegetation management, asset monitoring, unlocking transmission capacity, AI-powered grid insights, streamlined connections processes and climate resilience.
EnergyLab’s CEO, Megan Fisher, said the Scaleup Program continues to be a powerful platform for connection and collaboration in the energy sector.
“Australia is a leading global player for renewable energy on the grid, but there are still many challenges we have to overcome to get to 82% by 2030. We’re proud to create a space where world-leading startups and local industry come together to work through these technical challenges,” she said.
“The program offers Australian energy companies a unique opportunity to engage with cutting-edge technologies from around the world, while giving global startups valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities of Australia’s net zero transition.”
This year’s program will be delivered in collaboration with program partners including Endeavour Energy, Powerlink as well as TEPCO Power Grid (through Greenway Grid Global). This represents the first time a Japanese utility has been involved in the program.
“Endeavour Energy is proud to continue our partnership with EnergyLab’s Scaleup Program as we pursue our mission to decarbonise the grid,” said Leanne Pickering, Chief Customer and Strategy Officer at Endeavour Energy.
“Now in our fifth year of collaboration, we remain focused on uncovering innovative, scalable solutions that enhance grid resilience, improve operational efficiency, and support our vision for the grid of the future. We look forward to engaging with this year’s EnergyLab cohort – representing some of the brightest minds reimagining energy - and discovering the partnerships that will help turn bold ideas into real-world solutions.”
Over the coming months startups will meet one-on-one with a broad selection of industry teams to explore the potential for commercial pilots and partnerships that will help to decarbonise the Australian grid. The selected startups will also hear from market bodies including the Australian Energy Market Operator, and the Australian Energy Regulator, as well as receiving market briefings from Australian grid owners and operators, helping the international cohort build their understanding of the Australian market. A public event showcasing the technology from the cohort will be held in October to mark the program’s finish.
Expressions of interest for the 2026 Scaleup Program are now open via the EnergyLab Scaleup website, and industry who would like to be involved this year are encouraged to reach out to [email protected]
The 2025 Energy Scaleup Program Cohort
Sense - Sense Labs Inc. grid edge intelligence software turns the next generation of smart meters into grid edge Al compute platforms, generating high resolution insight data for distribution networks, retailers, and consumers. Sense insights include grid safety, bushfire prevention, faults, capacity and resilience, as well as behind the meter CER activity such as EV charging data, non-telemetry loads, shiftable controllable loads, and demand response engagement with consumers.
“EnergyLab is important to Sense as we localise and scale Sense propositions in Australia. EnergyLab's deep knowledge and insights will help Sense be more useful to Australian energy regulators, networks, and retailers as they grapple with energy transition challenges.”
Dave Johnson, Head of Australia, Sense
LiveEO - LiveEO leverages advanced AI to analyze satellite data, delivering timely and actionable intelligence to protect linear infrastructures like electrical grids against vegetation-related risks. Their solution ensures safer and more reliable operations by effectively mitigating threats, ultimately enhancing overall efficiency for our clients.
"We're thrilled to join EnergyLab’s latest cohort as we scale our business and expand our presence in Australia’s dynamic energy sector. At LiveEO, our mission is to harness the power of satellite data to protect our planet. By turning vast satellite datasets into actionable insights, we help utilities worldwide manage climate risks, boost infrastructure resilience, and meet regulatory demands. We see this program as an important opportunity to engage with industry leaders, tackle complex challenges, and help accelerate our success in the region."
Bonita Lloyd, Snr Account Executive, LiveEO
energyOS - A cloud-based software platform that models demand, revenue, and cost impacts of DER uptake and changing energy markets, helping utilities make smarter, faster product and investment decisions.
“We’re excited to join the EnergyLab Scaleup Program to accelerate our work with utilities and other key stakeholders. With use cases spanning DER modelling, battery investment, and tariff reform, EnergyLab’s network will help us expand our reach and fast-track system deployments.”
Stephen Kubicki, CEO, energyOS
Linebird - Linebird's Osprey Nonconductive Payload System (NPS) is an innovative drone technology designed for live-line maintenance on high-voltage power infrastructure. It enables utility companies to perform hands-on tasks safely without de-energizing power lines. Equipped with versatile end effectors, the NPS facilitates tasks such as real-time resistance measurements, debris removal, and equipment transport, enhancing safety, reducing operational costs, and improving service reliability for utility workers in hazardous environments.
"With our power grids needing more work on the lines than ever before, the need for solutions that can accelerate, augment, and protect linesworkers is greater than ever. Linebird is committed to equipping today's workforce for the future with advanced drone payloads for getting that work done. We are looking forward to engaging, deploying and scaling in Australia and New Zealand through Energylab's Industry-leading Scaleup program and proving our technology's value to this market."
Michael Beiro, Founder and CEO, Linebird
Swyvl makes remote site management easy by turning 360° photos, 3D models, and maps into an interactive platform. Teams can update projects without GIS expertise, reducing costly site visits and improving decision-making. Swyvl are interested in working with utilities to understand how their platform can be used to automate and utilise spatial data workflows.
"At Swyvl, we’re building the platform to help connect spatial systems for remote, data-rich site visibility. Empowering energy and infrastructure teams to make faster, safer, and more informed decisions. We’re excited to join EnergyLab’s Scaleup Program to collaborate directly with Australia’s leading energy companies and gain deeper insights into their operational challenges. The program provides an incredible opportunity to work alongside industry leaders who are shaping Australia’s energy future, helping us refine our platform to better serve the unique needs of the Australian energy sector"
Alex Tolson, Co-founder Swyvl
Advanced Infrastructure provides self-service customer-facing software tools empowering customers to collaborate with Australian DSOs to efficiently manage, optimize, and future-proof their energy networks. Advanced Infrastructure’s LAEP+ software connects digital twins across buildings, energy and transport to model and forecast energy demand across both short and long term time horizons. The platform future-proofs power grid investment decisions by removing the uncertainty of evolving customer demand in the face of mass electrification of transport and heating.
"The EnergyLab Scaleup Program is our stepping stone into the Asia Pacific market. Australia is a leader in decarbonisation and the program's partners are important stakeholders and customers in the commercialisation of our software products. Ongoing dialogue with customers is key to understanding the requirements of Australian network operators and their peers in the region."
Christopher Jackson, CEO, Advanced Infrastructure
Treeswift - Treeswift captures ground-based LiDAR from existing patrols, delivering AI-driven vegetation risk insights with detail and accuracy. Treeswift accelerates inspections, enhances decision-making, and reduces operational costs for utility T&D systems.
"I'm so excited that Treeswift has been invited to take part in EnergyLab's Scaleup Program! Our U.S. utility customers have deployed Treeswift's technology with their current patrols to find and prioritize vegetation-based threats to both their new and existing transmission and distribution lines, thereby boosting reliability, reducing risk, and improving affordability. We're eager to learn more from Australian TNSPs, DNSPs, and market bodies to see how we can best create value for them as well."
Steven Chen, Co-founder and CEO, Treeswift
Rhizome is helping electric utilities assess and plan for climate-induced power grid failures. Rhizome's climate resilience software platform helps electric utilities identify vulnerabilities on the grid from extreme weather threats over the long term, prioritize grid resilience investments, and quantify the benefits of those investments to justify regulatory approval.
"Climate risk is a global problem, and Rhizome sees numerous similarities between markets it is currently serving and the Australian market. In the US, Canada, and the UK, Rhizome is helping utilities make climate risk data actionable for planning their T&D systems. As bushfire, storms, and other hazards change in nature in Australia, scale our technology to help address these challenges would be delayed by potentially years without the help of an organization like EnergyLab. We're thrilled to be part of this cohort."
Mishal Thadani, CEO, Rhizome
Wingtra is the leading aerial insights company for mapping & surveying applications. Their fixed-wing, vertical take off and landing drones provide highly accurate aerial data collection that dramatically reduces inspection time, eliminates human risk in hazardous environments, and delivers superior geospatial data quality at a fraction of the cost of traditional methods. This enables energy companies to make more informed decisions, optimize their operations, and accelerate their transition to more sustainable energy solutions.
We're thrilled to join the EnergyLab scale-up program and work alongside industry leaders like Endeavour Energy to transform how Australia's energy infrastructure is managed. This partnership represents a significant opportunity to bring our proven unmanned aerial insights technology to the Australian energy market, helping utilities achieve safer, more efficient powerline maintenance operations while supporting the country's energy transition.
Thomas Lim, Head of Sales, APAC
Splight increases transmission capacity while adding a reliability layer to grids using digital technologies Splight adds an operational layer that runs on top of grid infrastructure to increase flexibility and reliability. This new reliability layer unleashes up to 2x of transmission capacity based on real-time responses to contingencies, eliminating renewables curtailment, shortening interconnection queues for renewables and large loads as data centers, and enabling deployment of DERs and batteries.
"Australia is among those countries with the greatest potential to turn itself into a generation and data processing superpower, but as the rest of the world it lacks the missing link between clean energy and an increasing demand for energy, “transmission”.
Splight is the key element for Australia to reach that goal since its software-based solution accelerates the adoption of renewable energy resources, batteries, and data centers by to unlock more than 2x the transmission capacity of existing transmission lines while simultaneously enhancing grid reliability."
Fernando Llaver, CEO, Splight
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