$20m · Series A · Software · London, UK
London-based Applied Computing has raised a $20m Series A led by KBR, with Databricks Ventures participating. The funding will support international expansion, a Houston office, research and engineering hiring, and wider commercial deployment of its Orbital platform.
Building an AI model around the physics of a plant
Applied Computing builds AI for energy operations. Orbital combines time-series data, physics and chemical-engineering models, language capabilities and plant documentation to help operators analyse how a facility is behaving and simulate how a change could affect the wider system.
The product is aimed at refineries, petrochemical plants, LNG facilities and other industrial sites where recommendations must respect equipment limits and safety constraints. That narrows the buyer and workflow compared with a general AI assistant, but it can deepen integration: value depends on joining sensor readings, engineering documents and physical models quickly enough to influence operating decisions.
KBR is both lead investor and commercial partner. The companies have a multi-year agreement to develop energy-sector AI products, giving Applied Computing a route into industrial deployments while making successful implementation with KBR’s customers an important proof point for the Series A.
Explore this theme
Industrial AI builders to watch — David Cruz e Silva, EUVC · 13 May 2026. The piece argues that proprietary data, domain expertise and workflow integration matter more than model access alone, which is the commercial premise behind Orbital.
Sources checked:
Applied Computing newsroom · TechCrunch · Tech.eu · Tech.eu Funding Explorer
