Participated · Series A · Aug 2024

CruxOCM develops a co-pilot platform that provides real-time automation, optimization, and data connectivity for control-room operators across pipeline and energy networks. Its product suite includes pipeBOT™, maxOPT™ and leanOPT™ to drive operational and business decisions. The platform integrates cross-domain, real-time, AI-driven software to help energy organizations improve financial, sustainability, and QHSE outcomes. The company is led by CEO Vicki Knott and targets energy-industry clients. CruxOCM intends to use the new funding to deliver additional value to its energy customers and expand deployment of its co-pilot capabilities. CruxOCM builds RIPA-enabled operations control management software that automates control-room tasks for oil and refined-products pipelines, helping maximize flow rates, streamline startup/shutdown procedures, and improve safety and asset utilization. The company claims its software increases revenue and safety for critical energy infrastructure and counts early customers including Phillips 66. CruxOCM plans to refine its user experience to deliver a more off-the-shelf product and to expand into additional energy verticals. Its near-term product-market focus is on US pipelines, with plans later to enter gas pipelines, gas plants, and offshore facilities. The company has seen rapid growth over the past two years, currently has 18 employees and plans to grow to 25 by year-end to support product development and deployments.

Participated · Equity · Jan 2023

Orbital Sidekick operates a constellation-based hyperspectral sensing system and an in-house analytics platform called SIGMA to generate intelligence for pipeline and energy-asset monitoring. Its sensors collect more than 500 spectral channels and deliver roughly eight-meter spatial resolution to detect chemical fingerprints such as gas leaks. The company has flown a breadbox-sized hyperspectral demo on the ISS in 2018 and a 30-kg Aurora tech-demo satellite in June 2021, and it generates revenue today through aerial programs. Orbital Sidekick is planning initial commercial satellite launches (two on SpaceX’s Transporter-7, plus additional launches on Transporter-8 and -9) to build a six-satellite GHOSt constellation before winter. It is also developing defense applications and won a $16 million STRATFI contract from the U.S. Air Force, which the article describes as non-diluted capital that accelerated its plans. The founders, Dan Katz and Tushar Prabhakar, started the company in 2016 in San Francisco. Orbital Sidekick builds and deploys hyperspectral sensors on satellites to provide advanced monitoring solutions for the energy sector and other industries. The company has developed pilot programs and external partnerships, notably with Phillips 66 and the iPIPE Partnership (including Energy Transfer and TC Energy). It is transitioning to expanded satellite operations in 2021 with a path toward full commercialization in 2022 and plans to launch its Global Hyperspectral Observation Satellite (GHOSt) constellation on multiple SpaceX Falcon 9 missions beginning in Q1 2022. Orbital Sidekick is applying its analytics platform to pipeline leak prevention and monitoring, regional fire risk detection, global emissions monitoring, clean energy exploration, and mineral detection. The company intends to use the new funding to expand product offerings, form new strategic partnerships, and introduce its monitoring technology to new industries. Orbital Sidekick is based in San Francisco, CA.