{"schema_version":"ctm-public-research-1.0","id":"emerald-ai","name":"Emerald AI","ticker":null,"sector":"AI infrastructure · Grid flexibility software","description":"Emerald AI’s Conductor software coordinates AI workloads and onsite energy resources to adjust data-center electricity demand when the power grid needs flexibility.","coverage_note":"Historical financing evidence plus valuation, dilution and fee assumptions or comparable private prices you enter. No sourced per-share return or IPO endpoint is established.","url":"https://capitaltimemachine.com/private/emerald-ai","publisher":"CapitalTimeMachine","dataset_revision":"ctm-research-2026-10-01","dataset_reviewed_on":"2026-10-01","feed_released_on":"2026-10-01","methodology_url":"https://capitaltimemachine.com/methodology","terms_url":"https://capitaltimemachine.com/terms","corrections":"mailto:capitaltimemachine@gmail.com","early_stage_research":{"name":"Emerald AI","sector":"AI infrastructure · Grid flexibility software","headline":"A $1.05B valuation for making AI power demand flexible.","overview":"Emerald AI’s Conductor software coordinates AI workloads and onsite energy resources to adjust data-center electricity demand when the power grid needs flexibility.","origin":"Founded November 2024 · Washington, D.C.","founders":"Varun Sivaram (founder and CEO)","website":"https://www.emeraldai.co","fundingHeadline":"$150M Series A","fundingNote":"Announced August 25, 2026; selected disclosed rounds sum to $217.5M.","valuationHeadline":"$1.05B","valuationNote":"Company-announced August 2026 valuation; pre-/post-money basis not stated.","baseline":{"millions":"1050","date":"2026-08-25","source":"series-a","note":"Company-announced valuation. The release does not specify pre-/post-money basis; using it as entry equity value is a scenario assumption."},"sources":[{"id":"seed","title":"Emerald AI launches with $24.5M","date":"2025-07-01","url":"https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/emerald-ai-launches-with-24-5m-seed-round-to-transform-ai-data-centers-into-grid-allies-302495064.html","kind":"Company announcement"},{"id":"extension","title":"Seed extension brings total to $42.5M","date":"2025-10-29","url":"https://www.emeraldai.co/blog/sharing-our-seed-extension-emerald-ais-total-funding-reaches-42-5-million-to-scale-power-flexible-ai-infrastructure","kind":"Company announcement"},{"id":"strategic","title":"Strategic expansion round of $25M","date":"2026-03-31","url":"https://www.emeraldai.co/blog/sharing-our-strategic-expansion-round-emerald-ai-raises-25-million-to-transform-ai-data-centers-into-flexible-power-grid-assets","kind":"Company announcement"},{"id":"series-a","title":"Series A at $1.05B valuation","date":"2026-08-25","url":"https://www.emeraldai.co/blog/emerald-ai-raises-150-million-series-a","kind":"Company announcement"},{"id":"paper","title":"Phoenix field demonstration paper","date":"2025-07-01","url":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.00909","kind":"Research paper · company coauthors"},{"id":"news","title":"Emerald AI newsroom","date":"2026-09","url":"https://www.emeraldai.co/news","kind":"Company news index"},{"id":"nvidia-production","title":"NVIDIA describes production grid response","date":"2026-09-15","url":"https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/from-megawatts-to-tokens-how-nvidia-maximizes-ai-factory-production/","kind":"Technology partner"},{"id":"ucsd","title":"Alderbuck and UC San Diego project","date":"2026-09-02","url":"https://www.emeraldai.co/blog/emerald-ai-alderbuck-energy-uc-san-diego-grid-responsive-ai-data-centers","kind":"Company announcement"}],"funding":[{"date":"2025-07-01","title":"Seed","value":"24500000","kind":"funding_raised","detail":"Launch financing; no valuation used from this announcement.","source":"seed","id":"EMERALD-AI-1","currency":"USD"},{"date":"2025-10-29","title":"Seed extension","value":"18000000","kind":"funding_raised","detail":"Led by Lowercarbon, bringing the disclosed total to $42.5M.","source":"extension","id":"EMERALD-AI-2","currency":"USD"},{"date":"2026-03-31","title":"Strategic expansion","value":"25000000","kind":"funding_raised","detail":"Led by Energy Impact Partners. Company reports a rounded $68M cumulative total.","source":"strategic","id":"EMERALD-AI-3","currency":"USD"},{"date":"2026-08-25","title":"Series A","value":"150000000","kind":"funding_raised","detail":"Co-led by Energize Capital and DCVC.","source":"series-a","id":"EMERALD-AI-4","currency":"USD"},{"date":"2026-08-25","title":"Announced company valuation","value":"1050000000","kind":"company_equity_valuation_reported","detail":"Pre-/post-money basis is not specified. This supports the announced unicorn designation, not a per-share price.","source":"series-a","id":"EMERALD-AI-5","currency":"USD"}],"facts":[{"label":"Core product","value":"Emerald Conductor","detail":"Orchestrates computation and onsite energy resources to manage facility power draw.","source":"series-a"},{"label":"Field evidence","value":"25% for 3 hours","detail":"Phoenix paper reports a 256-GPU demonstration while meeting workload service targets; one experiment does not establish universal performance.","source":"paper"},{"label":"Commercial evidence","value":"Production grid response","detail":"NVIDIA describes its Eos facility using Conductor with Silicon Valley Power. Contract revenue and unit economics remain undisclosed.","source":"nvidia-production"},{"label":"Ecosystem","value":"AI + energy partners","detail":"March announcement identifies NVIDIA DSX Flex integration and collaboration across utilities, power producers and technology companies.","source":"strategic"}],"thesis":"Software could make existing grid capacity more usable sooner than building new supply. The investment question is how much of that value Emerald can capture in durable contracts while meeting strict workload service requirements.","bull":"Software deployment across data centers and utilities could scale with less manufacturing capital than physical energy infrastructure.","bear":"Workloads vary in flexibility; customers must trust orchestration, reliability and security. Utility rules, integration costs and competitive platforms affect adoption and pricing.","unknowns":["Selected round amounts total $217.5M. The March release rounds cumulative funding to $68M; adding $150M to that rounded figure would give $218M. These are not two separate funding events.","A $1.05B headline cannot reveal the share price, liquidation preferences or an earlier investor’s realized return.","The cited potential for 100 GW of U.S. grid capacity is an ecosystem-level opportunity, not Emerald’s contracted capacity or revenue.","No verified per-share financing price, fully diluted capitalization, security conversion or investor liquidation waterfall is established in this profile.","Audited revenue, margins, cash burn, runway and customer concentration were not verified in the reviewed public sources.","Private shares may be illiquid, unavailable to a particular investor, diluted or worth zero. Scenario outputs do not establish investment access or a sale."],"milestones":[{"date":"2024-11","title":"Company founded","detail":"The October 2025 founder update dates founding to November 2024.","source":"extension"},{"date":"2025-07-01","title":"Phoenix field study","detail":"Paper documents a bounded demonstration of demand flexibility on an AI cluster.","source":"paper"},{"date":"2026-03-31","title":"Strategic investor expansion","detail":"Energy Impact Partners leads a new round; company describes five demonstrations across U.S. and U.K. sites.","source":"strategic"},{"date":"2026-08-25","title":"Announced unicorn valuation","detail":"Series A prices the company at an announced $1.05B; release reports commercial deployment.","source":"series-a"},{"date":"2026-09-02","title":"Campus microgrid project announced","detail":"Emerald announces planned integration with Alderbuck power hardware at UC San Diego; completed results are not established by this announcement.","source":"ucsd"},{"date":"2026-09-15","title":"NVIDIA reports production demand response","detail":"NVIDIA describes Conductor responding to Silicon Valley Power signals at its Eos facility. It distinguishes this operation from a future dedicated DSX Flex deployment in Virginia.","source":"nvidia-production"}],"reviewedOn":"2026-10-01","slug":"emerald-ai"},"observations":[{"id":"EMERALD-AI-1","title":"Seed","note":"Launch financing; no valuation used from this announcement.","observation_date":"2025-07-01","date_precision":"day","date_role":"announcement","actual_entry_date":null,"value":"24500000","value_qualifier":"","currency":"USD","value_scope":"funding_raised","share_class":null,"share_basis":"not_established","confidence_class":"B","verification_status":"primary_verified","checked_on":"2026-10-01","source":{"url":"https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/emerald-ai-launches-with-24-5m-seed-round-to-transform-ai-data-centers-into-grid-allies-302495064.html","publisher":"Emerald AI","title":"Emerald AI launches with $24.5M","locator":"Emerald AI launches with $24.5M; financing disclosure"},"supporting_sources":[],"citation_url":"https://capitaltimemachine.com/private/emerald-ai#EMERALD-AI-1"},{"id":"EMERALD-AI-2","title":"Seed extension","note":"Led by Lowercarbon, bringing the disclosed total to $42.5M.","observation_date":"2025-10-29","date_precision":"day","date_role":"announcement","actual_entry_date":null,"value":"18000000","value_qualifier":"","currency":"USD","value_scope":"funding_raised","share_class":null,"share_basis":"not_established","confidence_class":"B","verification_status":"primary_verified","checked_on":"2026-10-01","source":{"url":"https://www.emeraldai.co/blog/sharing-our-seed-extension-emerald-ais-total-funding-reaches-42-5-million-to-scale-power-flexible-ai-infrastructure","publisher":"Emerald AI","title":"Seed extension brings total to $42.5M","locator":"Seed extension brings total to $42.5M; financing disclosure"},"supporting_sources":[],"citation_url":"https://capitaltimemachine.com/private/emerald-ai#EMERALD-AI-2"},{"id":"EMERALD-AI-3","title":"Strategic expansion","note":"Led by Energy Impact Partners. Company reports a rounded $68M cumulative total.","observation_date":"2026-03-31","date_precision":"day","date_role":"announcement","actual_entry_date":null,"value":"25000000","value_qualifier":"","currency":"USD","value_scope":"funding_raised","share_class":null,"share_basis":"not_established","confidence_class":"B","verification_status":"primary_verified","checked_on":"2026-10-01","source":{"url":"https://www.emeraldai.co/blog/sharing-our-strategic-expansion-round-emerald-ai-raises-25-million-to-transform-ai-data-centers-into-flexible-power-grid-assets","publisher":"Emerald AI","title":"Strategic expansion round of $25M","locator":"Strategic expansion round of $25M; financing disclosure"},"supporting_sources":[],"citation_url":"https://capitaltimemachine.com/private/emerald-ai#EMERALD-AI-3"},{"id":"EMERALD-AI-4","title":"Series A","note":"Co-led by Energize Capital and DCVC.","observation_date":"2026-08-25","date_precision":"day","date_role":"announcement","actual_entry_date":null,"value":"150000000","value_qualifier":"","currency":"USD","value_scope":"funding_raised","share_class":null,"share_basis":"not_established","confidence_class":"B","verification_status":"primary_verified","checked_on":"2026-10-01","source":{"url":"https://www.emeraldai.co/blog/emerald-ai-raises-150-million-series-a","publisher":"Emerald AI","title":"Series A at $1.05B valuation","locator":"Series A at $1.05B valuation; financing disclosure"},"supporting_sources":[],"citation_url":"https://capitaltimemachine.com/private/emerald-ai#EMERALD-AI-4"},{"id":"EMERALD-AI-5","title":"Announced company valuation","note":"Pre-/post-money basis is not specified. This supports the announced unicorn designation, not a per-share price.","observation_date":"2026-08-25","date_precision":"day","date_role":"announcement","actual_entry_date":null,"value":"1050000000","value_qualifier":"","currency":"USD","value_scope":"company_equity_valuation_reported","share_class":null,"share_basis":"not_established","confidence_class":"B","verification_status":"primary_verified","checked_on":"2026-10-01","source":{"url":"https://www.emeraldai.co/blog/emerald-ai-raises-150-million-series-a","publisher":"Emerald AI","title":"Series A at $1.05B valuation","locator":"Series A at $1.05B valuation; financing disclosure"},"supporting_sources":[],"citation_url":"https://capitaltimemachine.com/private/emerald-ai#EMERALD-AI-5"}],"calculation_options":{"early_stage_assumptions":{"method":"early-stage-equity-sensitivity-1","mode":"early_stage","inputs":["amount","entry_millions","ending_millions","dilution_percent","upfront_fee_percent","carry_percent"],"basis":"User-assumed pro-rata equity; USD millions for valuations, USD for amount; fee deducted at entry; carry only on gains above original amount."},"ipo_offer_models":[],"valuation_comparisons":[],"user_entered_private_prices":true,"entered_public_price_review":null,"public_ipo":null},"limitations":["Historical research and hypothetical arithmetic, not live quotes, investment advice or an offer to invest.","Company valuation changes are not shareholder returns. Financing, dilution, security rights and exit access matter.","IPO offer-price marks are not realized sale proceeds; minimum investments and access are not established.","User-entered prices and valuations are assumptions, not sourced observations. Fee and carry treatment is stated by each method; taxes and distributions are excluded.","Selected surviving companies are not representative of private-market outcomes; investments may lose all value."]}