As Australia’s renewable energy system becomes more electrified, more decentralised and continues to navigate weather conditions, one of the sector’s most important challenges is no longer just how to build new infrastructure – but how to protect, maintain and operate the assets already in the ground.
That challenge has now received a major boost, with Virescent Ventures confirmed as the Australian partner in a AUD $50 million funding round for Melbourne-based IND Technology, a global company in early fault detection systems for electricity networks.
The investment marks IND Technology’s first institutional capital raise and is co-led by United States energy-sector specialists, Angeleno Group and Energy Impact Partners, alongside strategic backing from Edison International, one of the world’s largest utility holding companies.
Virescent’s participation signals strong local conviction in the role the technology can play in strengthening grid reliability, reducing outage risk and helping to prevent the chances of bushfires.
IND Technology’s system tackles one of the most difficult problems facing power networks: How to detect the early warning signs of failure before assets actually break, spark or shut down.
Rather than relying on periodic inspections or reactive maintenance, the company’s Early Fault Detection (EFD) platform uses sensors mounted on power poles – sometimes spaced up to five kilometres apart – to continuously monitor radio-frequency signals emitted by stressed or degrading electrical components. Those signals are analysed in real-time using machine-learning algorithms to pinpoint anomalies within around 10 metres. This allows network operators to intervene before a fault becomes an outage, an equipment failure, or in the worst case, a fire ignition.
The result shifts how networks are managed – from scheduled, manual inspections to continuous, data-driven prevention.
It is a shift that comes at a critical moment for Australia’s electricity system. According to the Australian Energy Regulator, network costs already account for around 35-45 per cent of a typical customer’s power bill, reflecting the scale and complexity of the infrastructure task. At the same time, much of the grid is ageing, while climate conditions are becoming hotter and drier, increasing both failure rates and bushfire risk.
Energy Networks Australia estimates that electricity assets account for less than three per cent of bushfire ignitions. Nevertheless, prevention remains an important consideration alongside cost and reliability.
IND Technology’s story is closely tied to that reality. Globally, the company’s systems have been credited with helping to prevent more than 500 fire events, underlining the growing role of predictive monitoring in modern network operations.
Kristin Vaughan, Managing Partner at Virescent Ventures, shared that the investment reflects the urgency for grid reliability and resilience for the energy transition.
“Ageing infrastructure, hotter and drier summers, and rising bushfire risk all mean utilities need smarter tools to detect faults before they become costly outages or catastrophic fire events,” she said.
“IND Technology has already secured global traction and deep adoption with their proven, homegrown solution preventing fires and improving reliability across major networks in Australia and North America. But the potential is far larger. This is exactly the kind of innovation needed to underpin the electrification of the global economy.”
The latest funding round will be used to accelerate global deployment of the EFD platform and expand IND Technology’s machine-learning and engineering teams, further improving the system’s ability to interpret complex fault signatures and deliver actionable insights to network operators.
Importantly, the company’s technology is not limited to a single type of asset or environment. Its platform can be used across overhead and underground networks, spanning rural bushfire corridors, suburban feeders and dense urban cable systems. The company has also expanded its product suite to cover low-voltage networks, transmission assets, and the integration of solar systems and weather stations into a unified monitoring platform.
For utilities, that means the ability to deploy a consistent detection and prevention layer across increasingly complex networks – a capability that becomes more important as rooftop solar, batteries, electric vehicles and new industrial loads change both power flows and stress profiles across the grid.
Professor Alan Wong, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of IND Technology, shared that the company is grounded in close collaboration with Australian network operators.
“For almost a decade, we’ve worked side-by-side with Australian utilities to prove that the EFD system can improve grid resilience and reduce the risk of bushfires, with eight local pilots showing how valuable this technology can be when it’s deployed at scale,” he said.
“What matters most to us is making sure this technology reaches the places where it can make the greatest difference.”
With new partners now on board, them company’s focus is shifting to scaling delivery, field support and international deployments.
“This support is a strong affirmation of the value of homegrown innovation and of Australia’s ability to lead in practical, life-saving engineering,” Professor Wong said.
“We’re committed to working closely with utilities to embed a prevention-first approach into energy networks and help protect the communities they serve.”
For Virescent, the investment builds on strong momentum for its second fund, which has now surpassed $155 million in commitments following Breakthrough Victoria joining cornerstone investors including the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), Westpac and QIC. The firm has already backed a number of high-profile Australian climate and energy technology companies, including Amber Electric, Relectrify and the National Renewable Network.
Since emerging from the 2016 Clean Energy Innovation Fund deployed by the CEFC, Virescent Ventures has deployed close to $300 million across more than 40 investments spanning clean energy, smart cities, sustainable agriculture, and the circular economy.
In a sector often focused on building the next wave of generation and storage, the investment in IND Technology is a reminder that the energy transition also depends on making the existing grid safer, smarter and more resilient.