Leeds-based AssetCool, a DeepTech company innovating advanced robotics and coatings for power lines, raised an €11.5 million Series A funding round to scale its proprietary robotics technology globally.
The oversubscribed round was led by Energy Impact Partners (EIP), with participation from Extantia Capital, Taronga Group, and existing investor Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, managed by Mercia Ventures. This new funding builds on the support of additional investors including Kero Development Partners and Northern Gritstone.
“We are laser – focused on doing the hard yards to improve the physical layer of the grid, specifically overhead systems,” said Dr Niall Coogan, CEO and Co-founder of AssetCool. “The AssetCool team is innovating at the nexus between robotics and materials science to bring meaningful improvements to an aging network. We’ve developed a new range of coatings systematically optimised for overhead lines that makes the grid more efficient and resilient – not by rebuilding it, but by enhancing what already exists.”
Founded in 2016, AssetCool develops advanced robotics and functional coatings for energy infrastructure. Its core platform reportedly increases the capacity and efficiency of power lines through direct application of thermal-management nanomaterials.
Its platform technology in chemistry and robotics allows it to address a range of constraints for transmission network operators.
The technical team includes PhDs in Physics, Mechatronics, Synthetic Chemistry, and Computer Science, combined with real-world experience. Co-founder and CEO Coogan holds a Master’s in Chemistry and a PhD from the Power Networks Centre (CDT program) from the University of Manchester.
“AssetCool stands out in the market with its ability to deliver firm capacity upgrades faster and more cost-effectively than any alternative we’ve seen,” says Sam Bursten, Principal at EIP. “We’re excited to partner with the AssetCool team and support their global growth, leveraging our strategic utility network to help them scale.”
Their innovation addresses what they believe to be one of the most pressing bottlenecks in today’s energy transition: grid congestion.
As demand for electricity surges, grid operators are under increasing pressure to boost transmission capacity quickly and affordably. At the same time, AssetCool says that the existing infrastructure is aging, and conventional methods to increase capacity, whilst critical for the energy transition, are slow, costly, and logistically challenging.
AssetCool’s proprietary coating platform aims to offer an alternative – allegedly capable of increasing the capacity of overhead lines by up to 30% with a solution that’s up to 20x cheaper and deployable in a fraction of the time.
By applying advanced nanomaterials directly on new or existing overhead conductors, AssetCool increases the lines’ thermal performance. The application of AssetCool’s coatings on existing grid infrastructure is made possible thanks to AssetCool’s “CapacityN” robotic platform.
These robots can deploy a range of functional coatings to address common constraints on overhead lines – including limited capacity, noise, and corrosion. They also provide a platform for additional services based on the collection of physical data and analysing it with AI.
Read the orginal article: https://www.eu-startups.com/2025/07/british-robotics-company-assetcool-raises-e11-5-million-to-scale-rapid-robotic-grid-upgrade-technology-globally/
