VIA’s CEO Colin Gounden was invited by Ambassador Markus Börlin, Consul General of Switzerland to join him for an interview in New York City. During the interview, Colin talks about the reasons we selected Switzerland as a European office for VIA and why blockchain and AI are critical to the clean energy transition happening in Switzerland. Watch the full interview below.
VIA’s blockchain-based data privacy platform successfully passes independent validation
SOMERVILLE, Mass., March 2, 2022 — VIA, the only U.S. Department of Defense cybersecurity accredited blockchain provider, is pleased to share that after an objective evaluation process, the company successfully completed an independent validation of the functionality of key data privacy protection features of its blockchain-based software platform. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), a leading energy R&D non-profit, began testing VIA’s platform capabilities at the request of multiple power companies to address the requirements of data analytics for clean energy rollout and individual consumer data privacy. Notable observers of the validation process included American Electric Power (AEP), Consolidated Edison (ConEd), Électricité de France (EDF), Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), and Salt River Project (SRP).
“Data privacy and cybersecurity are critical challenges facing the grid, and are requirements for the clean energy transition,” said Matt Wakefield, director of information, communication, and cyber security (ICCS) at EPRI. “The energy industry needs to explore and evaluate privacy-preserving technologies like VIA’s to maintain reliable and affordable electricity.”
EPRI’s evaluation process used Advanced Metering Infrastructure (smart meter) data as a use case. Smart meter data has value to both traditional power providers and also new entrants to the energy sector (see chart below).
| User of Smart Meter Data | Use Case |
|---|---|
| System Operator | Calculating grid service requirements |
| Electricity Retailer | Tariff setting |
| Network Operator | Demand growth forecasting |
| Solar Installers and EV Charging Cos | Customer targeting and pricing |
| Amazon, Google, City Planners | Amazon, Google, City Planners Proxy of citizens’ activity levels over time and geography to direct services, manage infrastructure, target marketing |
“The value of smart meter data to make communities cleaner, safer, and more equitable is clear,” said VIA CEO Colin Gounden. “At the same time, individual consumer privacy is a top priority. Data privacy technologies, like VIA’s platform, enable a “no trade-off” solution where insights from data can be leveraged for good while individual data privacy is guaranteed.”
VIA’s platform passed several scenarios representative of typical requests made to power companies for their meter data. The specific data privacy protection algorithm employed “K-anonymity” along two dimensions: number of customers and amount of data per customer per request. Smart contracts that controlled the K-anonymity rules were stored on VIA’s blockchain, the first and only blockchain to have cybersecurity accreditation from the U.S. Department of Defense up to top secret level. In addition, VIA’s multi-cloud platform capabilities were demonstrated on both Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure.
As data privacy rules evolve, VIA continues to validate its software platform with the strictest regulations worldwide. As an example, VIA is currently working with legal experts in Switzerland to match recent Data Privacy Act enhancements passed in September 2020 due to be enforced later this year.
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About EPRI
Founded in 1972, EPRI is the world’s preeminent independent, non-profit energy research and development organization, with offices around the world. EPRI’s trusted experts collaborate with more than 450 companies in 45 countries, driving innovation to ensure the public has clean, safe, reliable, affordable, and equitable access to electricity across the globe. Together, we are shaping the future of energy.
About VIA
90% of the world’s data is trapped in silos. VIA makes it accessible. Trusted by leading government agencies and clean energy companies around the globe, VIA’s secure, digital collaboration platform overcomes the most common barriers to AI: lack of data, data quality issues, and data privacy risks. VIA enables decentralized energy data analysis at the locations where datasets are stored. Blockchain-based permissioning ensures that only anonymized or aggregated results are transmitted instead of the underlying datasets. VIA brings AI to data 100 times faster than alternatives. As the first and only U.S. Department of Defense-wide cybersecurity accredited blockchain application, VIA’s platform is the driving force to unlock data-driven business cases for power and energy service providers. VIA is headquartered in Somerville, Massachusetts, with a technology center in Montreal, Quebec, and European offices in Denmark and Rotkreuz, Switzerland. For more information, please visit www.solvewithvia.com.
We did it again! For the third year in a row, VIA was named to Tech Tribune’s Best Tech Startups in Somerville list. We join nine companies in Somerville, Massachusetts that are shaping the local tech scene with solutions in the engineering, AI, healthcare, robotics, and utility spaces.
Tech Tribune chose the companies for the 2022 list based on four deciding factors including, 1) revenue potential, 2) leadership team, 3) brand/product traction, and 4) competitive landscape. We recently moved our Somerville headquarters to accommodate our growing team and look forward to continued contributions to the community.
For the full list of startups, check out Tech Tribune’s website.
VIA expands work with U.S. Air Force in multi-million dollar contract for JARVIS™, VIA’s cyber secure building and runway maintenance software platform
SOMERVILLE, Mass., February 17, 2022 — VIA, the only U.S. Department of Defense cybersecurity accredited blockchain provider for data privacy, integration, and analysis, announced today that it has been awarded a new two-year, multi-million dollar contract with the United States Air Force (U.S. Air Force). The contract solidifies the existing partnership between VIA and the U.S. Air Force to support data-driven decision-making for base safety, mission readiness, and comfort for personnel. Selected over more than 160 competitors, VIA will collaborate with the U.S. Air Force’s Air Mobility Command (AMC) to make JARVIS™, VIA’s blockchain-based building and runway maintenance software platform, the standard for analyzing infrastructure condition across multiple air bases worldwide.
Tasked with instantaneous global responsiveness, AMC supports missions through airlifts, air refueling, air mobility support, and aeromedical evacuation across air bases and air strips worldwide.
Together with AMC, VIA will build and enhance dashboards that will serve as the one-stop-shop for all of AMC’s infrastructure strategy and decision-making processes. With the ability to access these critical insights from multiple data sources and locations in real-time, commanders will have what they need to make faster and better data-driven decisions about how to keep infrastructure safe, mission-ready, and comfortable while saving taxpayer dollars.
Brigadier General Thomas H. Blackstock, Jr. added: “When faced with mission-critical situations, it’s imperative to have best practices and trusted data ready to make timely, effective resource decisions. After seeing success at Tyndall Air Force Base and Al Udeid Air Base, it’s clear JARVIS will have a significant impact, improving our installation management on a global scale.”
Pictured above: A bird’s eye view of critical infrastructure statistics from JARVIS™.
“In partnership with AMC, VIA is adding to JARVIS leading-edge infrastructure management capabilities that will improve U.S. Air Force operations enterprise-wide. These enhancements will augment the ways airmen already use JARVIS to save significant time performing their civil engineering duties,” said Joe Babiec, VIA’s senior vice president of strategic initiatives. “Ultimately, JARVIS eliminates the data tasks that keep airmen from focusing on what matters most: safety, mission readiness, and the comfort of personnel.”
Already in use by Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida and Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, JARVIS enables airmen to make data-driven decisions 100 times faster than any other infrastructure decision-making support system by automating all data science tasks and quickly generating reports.
Follow the latest from VIA by visiting https://www.solvewithvia.com/latest/ or on social media, including LinkedIn and @solvewithvia on Twitter and Instagram.
About VIA
90% of the world’s data is trapped in silos. VIA makes it accessible. Trusted by leading government agencies and clean energy companies around the globe, VIA’s secure, digital collaboration platform overcomes the most common barriers to AI: lack of data, data quality issues, and data privacy risks. VIA enables decentralized energy data analysis at the locations where datasets are stored. Blockchain-based permissioning ensures that only anonymized or aggregated results are transmitted instead of the underlying datasets. VIA brings AI to data 100 times faster than alternatives. As the first and only U.S. Department of Defense-wide cybersecurity accredited blockchain application, VIA’s platform, is the driving force to unlock data-driven business cases for power and energy service providers. VIA is headquartered in Somerville, Massachusetts, with a technology center in Montreal, Quebec, and European offices in Denmark and Rotkreuz, Switzerland. For more information, please visit www.solvewithvia.com.
VIA has an all-access pass to the club. The blockchain club. VIA is proud to be one of only 10 companies accepted into Cohort 1 of Wharton University’s Stevens Center Cypher Accelerator program.
In this prestigious three-month program, VIA will work with the biggest names in blockchain such as Mark Cuban and Tim Draper. Together with direct feedback and coaching from powerhouse investors including Andresseen Horowitz, Bain Capital, Dexterity Capital, and Pantera Capital, VIA will work to advance the blockchain ecosystem alongside academics and other Stevens center experts.
“We’re excited to have so much one-on-one access to the leading thinkers and investors in blockchain,” VIA CEO Colin Gounden said. “While customers first started using our blockchain application in 2018, we only launched our own blockchain in 2021. This was driven by the cybersecurity requirements for our U.S. Department of Defense customers. We see the Wharton program as a way for VIA to sharpen our differentiation, accelerate our growth, and expand our market leadership position.”
To learn more about the Cypher Accelerator program, visit the Stevens Center website here.
The continued integration of renewables into global electricity grids is accelerating the need for asset management technologies such as blockchain to streamline transactions, share information, and allow data access. VIA is proud to be recognized by market intelligence firm, Guidehouse Insights, as one of the top companies in this space, alongside Energy Web and LO3 Energy, that are meeting this demand with blockchain-based solutions. To learn more about the role of blockchain in energy asset management and why power providers are turning to VIA’s Global Data Asset Collaborative (GDAC™) to predict transformer performance while preserving data integrity, read the full piece here.
Smart meters are rich with insights that can optimize the operation of the power grid. Yet, the current practice of gathering energy consumption and production data from a centralized source carries data privacy and security concerns. Our partners at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU) recently penned a piece for Bulletin.ch about our research through the Swiss Federal Office of Energy to solve this dilemma. A key component of the KnowlEDGE project, VIA’s Trusted Analytics Chain™ (TAC™), allows utilities to access distributed datasets while maintaining cybersecurity and regulatory compliance.
To learn more about this work with HSLU and how it’s supporting Switzerland’s decarbonization goals, read the full article here.
Switzerland aims to rely solely on renewable energy by 2050. Artificial intelligence (AI) is crucial to making this a reality, according to a recent SwissInfo article. The piece featured in Switzerland’s top English language news outlet highlights how VIA and our partners at Lucerne University of Applied Science and Arts (HSLU) are putting AI into practice through smart meter research. With this work, utilities have a way to securely analyze smart meter data while protecting customer privacy.
“No country in the world has a longer history or stronger reputation for data privacy. At the same time, no single utility has enough data on its own for AI,” noted VIA CEO Colin Gounden in an interview for the piece.“With so many utilities (650), Switzerland is a great proving ground for VIA’s collaborative technology (VIA Insights Market™).”
VIA’s recently launched Insights Market brings AI models to data to increase data privacy and cybersecurity. It enhances security as power companies do not need to send data to the cloud or to analysts.
To learn more about our work and implications for creating a stable, carbon neutral energy system, read the full article from Swissinfo here.
Data Magazine spotlights VIA in a list of the Most Innovative Analytics Startups & Companies in Massachusetts. VIA was selected from a range of companies, including well-known brands like HubSpot and Rapid7, based on performance in innovation, growth, management, and impact on society. At VIA, we are committed to upholding this title both in Massachusetts and worldwide as we continue to work with power providers, clean energy companies, and governments to overcome barriers to data and AI integration.
To read the full announcement from Data Magazine, you can visit their website here.
VIA maintains Swiss market momentum with funding to impact country’s decarbonization goals
SOMERVILLE, Mass., November 18, 2021 — Continuing its track record for innovation in Switzerland, VIA, the leading provider of artificial intelligence (AI) for data privacy, integration, and analysis, announced today that it has been awarded funding from the nation’s top innovation booster, Energy Lab. Developed in collaboration with research partner Lucerne University of Applied Science and Arts (HSLU), the project, “Insights Marketplace – Powering Up Your Data for Decarbonisation,” was selected through a competitive judging process and is a testament to the company’s deepening impact on the Swiss energy market.
“Making a lasting impact on Switzerland’s clean energy transition goes beyond a single solution or technology. It requires the ongoing commitment of an entire community. We’re thrilled to be part of this innovation ecosystem, and our COO and Switzerland board member, Kate Ravanis, and I are looking forward to driving further collaboration with VIA Insights Market,” said VIA’s CEO, Colin Gounden, who will be also presenting the project at Energy Lab’s Un(Conference) on November 25, 2021, in Switzerland. The event will be another opportunity for an exchange of ideas and community building to commence.
The project highlights VIA Insights Market™, which debuted globally earlier this fall in Switzerland at Energy Data Hackdays in Brugg, Switzerland. VIA Insights Market enables power providers to test and acquire AI and other analytical services faster and more securely than any other alternative. By applying Insights Market to the problem, the need for repeated training of artificial intelligence (AI) models is reduced. At the same time, privacy and security are enhanced as the solution brings code to the data, removing the need for storage of data in multiple locations.
Sem Mattli, managing director of Switzerland Innovation Park Central, which facilitates the Energy Lab, added: “Collaboration is key to accelerating innovation. Through VIA Insights Market, researchers and companies alike can train and deploy AI models on data previously unavailable due to geographic or regulatory constraints while power companies maintain full confidentiality of their data. The application has the power to save Swiss utilities hundreds of hours in data integration costs, while building a bridge that enables distributed energy resources to be on the grid.”
Follow the latest from VIA by visiting https://www.solvewithvia.com/latest/ or on social media, including LinkedIn and @solvewithvia on Twitter and Instagram.
About VIA
90% of the world’s data is trapped. VIA makes it accessible. Trusted by leading government agencies and clean energy companies around the globe, VIA’s secure, digital collaboration platform overcomes the most common barriers to AI: lack of data, data quality issues, and data privacy concerns. By bringing AI to data 100 times faster than alternatives and with the highest level of cybersecurity, VIA’s platform is the driving force to make communities of all kinds cleaner, safer, and more equitable. VIA is headquartered in Somerville, Massachusetts, with a technology center in Montreal, Quebec, and European offices in Denmark and Switzerland. For more information, please visit www.solvewithvia.com
Innovators Featured in Article on Bridging Power Company Data and AI
VIA is proud to be featured in an article by our partner and Europe’s largest energy utility, Enel. The article, which is published as a success story on Enel’s website, examines data’s critical role in powering the energy transition and the challenges many power companies face in tapping into this precious resource. Highlighting the partnership between VIA and Enel X, Enel’s demand response business line, Enel explores the innovations, including our TAC™ platform and SWEET™ technology, that are helping it bridge data with AI to overcome these barriers. With SWEET, Enel X is able to automate data cleaning and wrangle thousands of data files from Enel X customers in just minutes — which otherwise may have taken hours for a data scientist to manipulate manually.
We look forward to continued collaboration with Enel X as we pave the way to a clean energy future, together. As Kate Ravanis, COO of VIA, concludes in the piece: “Anyone can get lucky and make something new once. For us, we strive to find a faster, smarter, cleaner way of doing everything, all the time.”
To read the full article by Enel X, visit their website here.
SOMERVILLE, Mass., November 4, 2021 — VIA, the leading provider of artificial intelligence (AI) for data privacy, integration, and analysis, announced today that the United States Air Force (U.S. Air Force) awarded the company a new contract with Tyndall Air Force Base (Tyndall AFB). The contract was a result of VIA participating in the Revolutionizing Flightline Operations Challenge run by the U.S. Air Force’s flagship innovation unit, AFWERX. VIA was selected out of more than 140 of the world’s leading technology providers and innovators competing in the same challenge category.
Expanding VIA’s partnership with the U.S. Air Force, the contract highlights the increasing demand for VIA’s AI for infrastructure application, JARVIS™. In the past year, JARVIS has supported over $200M in infrastructure maintenance and repair decisions at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. Tyndall AFB, located near Panama City, Florida, will immediately begin using VIA’s fast, secure, and intuitive JARVIS application to improve airfield maintenance and repair.
Tyndall AFB is the lead facility for the Air Force’s Installation of the Future program. After Hurricane Michael destroyed much of the air base in 2018, Congress directed that Tyndall AFB should be rebuilt to serve as a template for refurbishing and building U.S. air bases worldwide. Under the terms of its contract with VIA, Tyndall AFB, in partnership with the U.S. Air Force Civil Engineering Center (AFCEC), will also integrate JARVIS into the overall Installation of the Future system architecture so that the application will become available across the U.S. Air Force.
Major General Kimberly Crider, a recently retired two-star general from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) who served as Chief Data Officer for the U.S. Air Force until 2020, added: “Data is essential for DOD leadership to make mission-critical decisions and ensure that installation infrastructure remains safe, mission-ready, and comfortable for all personnel. As the base of the future, Tyndall and its evaluation is a logical step along the path to adopting JARVIS enterprise-wide. A DOD-wide adoption will ensure the Air Force can effectively and efficiently sustain essential infrastructure at all of its domestic and overseas air bases for decades to come.”
VIA’s Joe Babiec presented JARVIS to the U.S. Air Force at the invitation-only AFWERX Showcase in Nevada in September 2021.
Designed by airmen for airmen, the solution solves a critical pain point for the U.S. Air Force not resolved by other analytics tools. VIA’s Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives, Joe Babiec, who represented VIA in the challenge, explained: “JARVIS routinely saves Air Force civil engineers time and money. Before, they would spend days following complicated manual procedures to prepare a report for their leadership. JARVIS automates all of the Excel and data science tasks so that engineers can generate reports in minutes and with the same ease as using an application on a smartphone. Now they can focus on maintenance and repair work as they were trained, while leadership has the insights to inform strategic decisions about whether to expand, maintain, or replace billions of dollars of critical air base infrastructure.”
VIA’s technology will help Tyndall AFB commanders make faster, better, data-driven decisions about how to keep air base infrastructure safe, mission-ready, and comfortable while saving taxpayer dollars. VIA’s TAC™ platform brings speed, security, and simplicity to make JARVIS 100 times faster than any other infrastructure decision-making support system and holds the DOD’s top cybersecurity accreditation.
Follow the latest from VIA by visiting https://www.solvewithvia.com/latest/ or on social media, including LinkedIn and @solvewithvia on Twitter and Instagram.
About VIA
90% of the world’s data is trapped. VIA makes it accessible. Trusted by leading government agencies and clean energy companies around the globe, VIA’s secure, digital collaboration platform overcomes the most common barriers to AI: lack of data, data quality issues, and data privacy concerns. By bringing AI to data 100 times faster than alternatives and with the highest level of cybersecurity, VIA’s platform is the driving force to make communities of all kinds cleaner, safer, and more equitable. VIA is headquartered in Somerville, Massachusetts, with a technology center in Montreal, Quebec, and European offices in Denmark and Switzerland. For more information, please visit www.solvewithvia.com.
Clean Energy Innovator Honored Alongside Moderna and Benchling
Pictured above (left to right): Kate Ravanis, Co-Founder and COO, VIA; Markus Börlin, Ambassador, Consul General of Switzerland; Colin Gounden, Co-Founder and CEO, VIA.
Together with innovators Moderna and Benchling, VIA received Switzerland Global Enterprise’s 2021 Tell Award for its contributions to the Swiss economy and community. Since its inception, more than 50 of America’s most innovative and fastest growth companies – including Biogen, Google, and Microsoft – have been recognized with this prestigious national award. VIA executives Kate Ravanis and Colin Gounden celebrated the distinction at a private ceremony in Boston with Swiss dignitaries.
“Switzerland has a worldwide reputation for its commitment to clean energy adoption and data privacy, two areas closely aligned with VIA’s own mission,” VIA COO and Switzerland board member Kate Ravanis said. “This award is proof of our impact on the market as we provide the technology to overcome barriers to data and protect privacy. We’re proud to be recognized alongside such a strong group of innovators and look forward to continued collaboration with the Swiss government, academia, and power industry.”
As the world’s only blockchain that is cybersecurity-approved by the U.S. Department of Defense, VIA is committed to bringing the highest levels of data security and accelerating Switzerland’s clean energy goals. The announcement comes only a week after the launch of VIA Insights Market™, which made its public debut at Energy Data Hackdays in Brugg, Switzerland. VIA Insights Market enables power providers to accelerate their transition to clean energy technologies through faster testing and acquisition of AI. VIA’s R&D partner Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts served as a beta user of the platform. To support its growth across Europe, VIA recently opened an office at the Switzerland Innovation Park Central in Zug.
For more information about the Tell Awards, read the press release from Swiss Global Enterprise.
Pictured above (left to right): Sophie Cerny, Trade Commissioner for Innovation; Lukas Sieber, Executive Director USA, Greater Zurich Area; Michelle Abboud, Vice President – North America, Lucerne Business; Colin Gounden, Co-Founder and CEO, VIA; Markus Börlin, Ambassador, Consul General of Switzerland; Kate Ravanis, Co-Founder and COO, VIA; Daniel Bangser, Trade Commissioner for Investment; Benjamin Bollmann, CEO, Swissnex Boston.
It’s official! VIA team members presented with the Tell Award at VIA’s office in Somerville, Mass.
Pictured above (left to right): Joe Babiec, SVP of Strategic Initiatives, VIA; Kate Ravanis, Co-Founder and COO, VIA; Colin Gounden, Co-Founder and CEO, VIA; Daniel Bangser, Trade Commissioner for Investment; Adam Eisenman, VP, Public Sector, VIA.
About VIA
VIA is powering the clean energy revolution. Working with the world’s leading utilities, clean energy companies, and government agencies, VIA’s software overcomes the most common barriers to AI: lack of data, data quality issues, and data privacy concerns. As a result, VIA’s software accelerates the AI required for the clean energy transition. VIA also provides the bridge that enables EVs, battery storage, demand response, and distributed energy resources to be on the grid. VIA is headquartered in Somerville, Massachusetts, with a technology center in Montreal, Quebec. For more information, please visit www.solvewithvia.com.
Pictured above [left to right]: Top – Adam Eisenman, Kate Ravanis, Kevin McSweeney, Steve Patton, Becky McClements, Joe Babiec, and Annvie Nguyen; Bottom – Jackie Finn, Colin Gounden, Kristen Merrill, and Taylor Curran.
It’s official: To accommodate rapid team and customer growth, VIA, the leading provider of AI for data privacy, data integration, and data analysis, has moved to a new location in its home base of Somerville, Mass. The VIA team in Somerville, whose size has more than doubled in less than a year, is now headquartered at 49R Day Street.
The new office will support the expanding commercial team, with new job openings in the energy and government sectors to complement the move.
“VIA is thrilled to support our growing customer base across sectors — and, from the city where it all started,” said Colin Gounden, President and CEO.
For a behind-the-scenes look into the new space, follow VIA on LinkedIn or @solvewithvia on Twitter and Instagram.
Pictured above: VIA’s new office space
Pictured below: VIA CEO Colin Gounden welcomes team to Somerville headquarters.
About VIA
VIA is powering the clean energy revolution. Working with the world’s leading power providers, clean energy companies, and government agencies, VIA’s software overcomes the most common barriers to AI: lack of data, data quality issues, and data privacy concerns. As a result, VIA’s software accelerates the AI required for the clean energy transition. VIA also provides the bridge that enables EVs, battery storage, demand response, and distributed energy resources to be on the grid. VIA is headquartered in Somerville, Massachusetts, with a technology center in Montreal, Quebec, and European offices in Denmark and Switzerland. For more information, please visit www.solvewithvia.com.
VIA’s VP of Marketing, Jackie Finn, was featured in The Tech Tribune blog series “Profile of a Founder.” The Tech Tribune recently named VIA “2021 Best Tech Startups in Somerville” for the second consecutive year. Read their Q&A interview to hear Jackie’s advice for aspiring entrepreneurs and discover the turning point that transformed VIA from just a startup data science company to the AI and blockchain leader we are today.
John is focused on implementing best practices for software development at VIA. He co-invented VIA’s core platform and currently develops, integrates, and quality assurance tests the platform for VIA’s applications.
Before VIA, John was a freelance consultant at the Numerical Algorithms Group (NAG), where he focused on updating their Python Library. Prior to this position, he was a technical sales support engineer at NAG in Oxford, where he developed technical marketing material and provided pre-sales assistance. John was awarded the best thesis in gravitation physics in 2016 by the Institute of Physics (IOP). His research focused on developing new numerical methods that capture the physical behavior of fluid interfaces permeated by high magnetic fields while taking into account relativistic effects.
John earned his master’s degree in physics and his Ph.D. in applied mathematics from the University of Southampton.