Applied Computing raises $20M Series A to build AI foundation model for oil, gas, and petrochemical plants

Applied Computing, a London-based startup founded in 2023, raised a $20 million Series A led by engineering firm KBR with participation from Databricks Ventures. The company is building a foundation AI model, Orbital, designed to operate across oil, gas, refining, and petrochemical systems. These facilities often have thousands of sensors tracking temperature, pressure, velocity, and viscosity, but operators typically use less than 8% of the data for decision-making due to fragmentation across data sources.

Orbital combines a time series model, a physics-based model, and a language model to predict facility states by analyzing sensor readings while accounting for equipment constraints and operator activity. The model enables technicians to simulate how changes in one part of a facility could ripple through operations. Applied Computing claims Orbital can flag anomalies, investigate causes, and model potential fixes within minutes, compressing investigations that previously took days or weeks.

The startup reports it has reached double-digit millions in annual recurring revenue in under 18 months since emerging from stealth. Orbital is deployed at some large, publicly listed upstream oil and gas, downstream refining, and petrochemical companies, though Applied Computing declined to specify the number of customers. Partners include Indian energy company Wipro and KBR, which has integrated Orbital into its INSITE 3.0 digital platform for energy projects and is using it for ammonia production.

Applied Computing is also working with a major U.S. upstream operator and plans to announce a partnership with a European oil major in the coming weeks. The company intends to use the $20 million to expand internationally, hire research and engineering staff, and pursue additional energy-sector deployments. It opened a Houston office to be closer to existing North American customers and is planning expansion into the Middle East.

The startup faces competition from industrial software incumbents such as AspenTech, AVEVA, Cognite, and Seeq, which offer simulation, optimization, and industrial data analysis tools. Applied Computing’s CEO argues the company’s differentiator is assembling AI researchers to build a model capable of competing with Orbital, rather than relying solely on data access or domain expertise.