Let’s TAC™ About It: The Bridge to AI Experts

/ /by

This is the first installment of our new blog series, where we will cover the many capabilities and benefits of VIA’s Trusted Analytics Chain™ (TAC™). So, are you ready to TAC™ about it?

Data science roles have proliferated in the past decade. The growth numbers look flat, however, in comparison to other technology trends.

AI is embedded in our phones, our TVs, and our cars. With 67% of large companies projected to have AI initiatives in place by 2021, big data and machine learning are no longer relegated to long-term, R&D projects in mainstream businesses. These are now critical functions required for the long-term prosperity of business. 

Many organizations with vast amounts of data struggle to recruit, develop, and retain the data science talent they need to analyze their data and deliver actionable insights. A large ecosystem of big data companies, AI specialist companies, and tools have emerged to address this data glut and talent shortage. However, there are very real data security and privacy risks to consider for the firms that work with external AI companies. In addition, selecting and managing AI companies is costly and time consuming. These barriers can trap an organization’s data and limit its insights. 

TAC™ reduces the time, cost, and risks to data security and privacy of working with external analysts in multiple ways.

  • TAC™ leaves the data where it is. Instead of sending data to an analyst, TAC™ controls the code delivered to the data’s location (even in multiple locations) through federated learning.
  • TAC™ automates data anomaly checks, data cleaning and harmonization, and NLP PII checks.
  • TAC™ tracks and, when required, restricts what analysis can be performed at the data’s location, through smart contracts and other programmatic controls.
  • TAC™ provides data owners control over results returned to analysts through digital watermarking, k-anonymity, additive homomorphic encryption, and other mathematical safeguards.
  • TAC™ streamlines data access workflows so companies can even grant multiple AI experts access to the same dataset. This allows companies to leverage the wisdom of the crowd to select the best solution for their particular challenge. 

In short, TAC™ is a secure bridge between a company’s distributed data and expert analysts. VIA works with global electric utilities and government agencies to help them gain access to the AI specialists that can harness massive datasets, even across companies, to transition to a cleaner, safer, and greener energy industry.

VIA Participates in NPPD’s Annual Innovation Showcase

/ /by

VIA was delighted to support Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) specifically and innovation in Nebraska more generally this past weekend. VIA’s CEO, Colin Gounden traveled to Aurora, Nebraska for the Aurora Open & Innovation Showcase to meet with hundreds of students and local community members to give them a glimpse into working for a technology startup. During the event, there was also a robotics competition, as seen in this local news clip, where the VIA sticker made its TV debut!

 

VIA Awarded Funding by MassCEC

/ /by

VIA is pleased to share that we have been awarded funding through MassCEC’s InnovateMass program for a behind the meter energy storage project. Governor Charlie Baker discusses the importance of supporting the 18 startups awarded:

“Providing strategic support to entrepreneurs and startup companies is critical to helping Massachusetts maintain its position as the national leader in cleantech innovation,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “These early-stage companies provide a vital source of job creation and economic value while helping the Commonwealth meet the challenges posed by climate change, and we are committed to helping support the growth of the vibrant startup community.”

For the formal press release titled “Baker-Polito Administration Announces $1.7 Million in Funding for Clean Energy Startups” visit MassCEC’s website.

 

Andrew Bright Joins VIA Advisory Board

/ /by

VIA, a leader in providing energy analytics while maintaining data privacy and security, is pleased to announce that Andrew Bright has joined its advisory board. Andrew brings nearly 25 years of experience in the sustainable energy and transportation sectors to VIA and will play a significant role in helping the company mature into a power industry leader.

“Deep power industry expertise is a requirement to build AI and blockchain solutions that work at scale across the industry. For nearly twelve years, Andrew played a key role at ABB Power Grids including a senior role in the $11Bn sale to Hitachi. He understands the stress EVs, renewables, and extreme weather can have on the grid and its equipment,” said Colin Gounden, CEO of VIA. He continued, “We’re pleased to have Andrew Bright join our team and lend his industry and commercial expertise to help take VIA’s solutions to the next level for our utility customers.”

Prior to ABB, Andrew was a principal consultant for seven years in high-tech industries and worked in strategy development, technology and startup scouting, and digital transformation. “VIA is on the verge of changing the way the power industry tackles asset management and operations, and I’m thrilled to be a part of it,” said Andrew Bright. “Based in Menlo Park, I see 10 to 50 innovative companies and disruptive technologies every week. VIA stands apart as a company that is using advanced technology to deliver unique benefits to customers. They are on track to become a leading industrial and utility technology giant.”

VIA is expanding its GDAC™ program into new problems areas, and as the company continues to take a leadership position in the power industry, it will recruit more industry experts to become part of the VIA community.

About VIA

VIA helps governments, regulators, and power companies deliver $200Bn in energy every year to more than 100 million customers. VIA’s privacy-preserving analytics software, Trusted Analytics Chain™ (TAC™) reduces the cost and improves the quality of service of electricity transmission and distribution using AI and blockchain technologies. TAC™ (patents pending) is the bridge that securely connects power company data, distributed across many locations, to potential AI solutions. VIA established the Global Data Asset Collaborative™ (GDAC™), built on top of TAC™, to allow multiple companies to securely pool data for more accurate analytics. Headquartered in Somerville, Massachusetts, VIA has been featured in Wired and Inc. Magazine for its leadership in technology innovation. For more information, please visit www.solvewithvia.com.

VIA Earns Spot on the 2020 Global Cleantech 100

/ /by

VIA, a leader in providing energy analytics while maintaining data privacy and security, was named a 2020 Global Cleantech 100 company by Cleantech Group.

The 2020 Global Cleantech 100 is the 11th edition of the respected annual guide to the leading companies and themes in sustainable innovation. It features the private, independent, and for-profit companies best positioned to contribute to a more digitized, de-carbonized and resource-efficient industrial future.

An excerpt about VIA from the report:

Keep an eye on
Companies that enable the sharing of valuable data between companies facing similar challenges are growing in importance. Via Science (VIA), a newcomer to the list, is using a combination of AI and blockchain to clean datasets from large energy players and share them anonymously with peers to accelerate problem-solving in this space.

The list combines Cleantech Group’s research data with qualitative judgements from nominations and insight from a global 80-member expert panel of leading investors and executives from corporations and industrials active in technology and innovation scouting. From pioneers and veterans to new entrants, the expert panel broadly represents the global cleantech community and results in a list with a powerful base of respect and support from many important players within the cleantech innovation ecosystem. The Global Cleantech 100 program is sponsored by Chubb.

“It feels right that our first list of the future-defining 2020s, should see a continued strengthening in the representation of truly impactful and necessary innovations to transform our diets, to enable a more renewable-heavy energy system, and to capture and utilize the vast levels of CO2 we have been freely emitting for decades,” said Richard Youngman, CEO, Cleantech Group. “Also included in our 2020 list are some big and critical shots at solving global problems – from proving out fusion and next-gen batteries to zero carbon aviation.”

About Cleantech Group

Cleantech® Group provides research, consulting and events to catalyze opportunities for sustainable growth powered by innovation. At every stage from initial strategy to final deals, we bring corporate change makers, investors, governments and stakeholders from across the ecosystem the access and customized support they need to thrive in a more digitized, de-carbonized and resource-efficient future.

The company was established in 2002 and is headquartered in San Francisco with a growing international presence in London. Our parent company, Enovation Partners, is based in Chicago.

Media Contact:
Laura Dolby
Cleantech Group
Email: laura.dolby@cleantech.com

About VIA

VIA helps governments, regulators, and power companies deliver $200Bn in energy every year to more than 100 million customers. VIA’s privacy-preserving analytics software, Trusted Analytics Chain™ (TAC™) reduces the cost and improves the quality of service of electricity transmission and distribution using AI and blockchain technologies. TAC™ (patents pending) is the bridge that securely connects power company data, distributed across many locations, to potential AI solutions. VIA established the Global Data Asset Collaborative™ (GDAC™), built on top of TAC™, to allow multiple companies to securely pool data for more accurate analytics. Headquartered in Somerville, Massachusetts, VIA has been featured in Wired and Inc. Magazine for its leadership in technology innovation. For more information, please visit www.solvewithvia.com.

VIA Included in Tracxn’s “Top Emerging Blockchain Startups” List

/ /by

Tracxn, a market research platform that tracks startups, private companies, and innovative sectors, has included VIA in its coveted list of “Top Emerging Blockchain Startups.” 

VIA is proud to be featured as a “Minicorn” on the list, as Tracxn explains:

“The Minicorns – are the high growth early stage ventures (Series A+). Watch out for these companies as they take the business to the next level, by scaling up for the accelerated growth.

For the full list, visit the Tracxn website.

 

Thank you, 2019. Now, let’s do this 2020!

/ /by

As we kick off 2020, we can’t help but think of all the moments from 2019 that contributed to what we think will be the biggest year yet for VIA.

Near and Far, Our Team Represented VIA
In 2019, our team traveled the globe to help spread VIA’s message. Our CEO, Colin Gounden and Senior Vice President, Joe Babiec, gave presentations at European Utility Week in Paris, Swiss-US Energy Innovation Days in Austin, TX, various Plug and Play summits, EDP Starter Acceleration Program in Houston, TX, and EPRI Venture Day in Chicago, to name a few. Kate Ravanis, our Chief Operating Officer, also spoke at the Greentech Media Blockchain in Energy Forum in New York City.

In addition, we were proud to sponsor, speak, and participate in several events across Montreal including Women in Physics Canada, McGill Physics Hackathon, and Montreal AI Symposium. We opened our doors for Startup Open House Montreal and hosted our own VIA Open House Party (featured below).

Fresh Off the Press
We wrapped up 2019 with six press mentions, two “Top” lists, and two technical blogs written by our team members. To take a trip down memory lane, check out press mentions here: BitcoinExchangeGuide.com, Axios (and follow-up article) GreenBiz, Disruptor Daily, and Utility Dive; “top” lists here: Top 5 Big Data & Machine Learning Startups in Energy and The 10 Coolest Blockchain Startups of 2019 (So Far); and finally, our technical blogs: The Importance of Unit Testing and Understanding How EV Charging Behavior Affects Distribution Networks.

Our VIA Community Continued to Grow
Internally, we hosted two In-Person All Hands events in Montreal (featured below) where our team brainstormed big ideas for 2020. We held our first annual VIA Spirit Week where each office celebrated what it means to be part of the VIA team. Lastly, we created two videos on what it’s like to join VIA: The VIA Team and Applicant Journey.

The VIA community includes more than just our internal team members. This year, we launched our GDAC™ program and welcomed founding members Hawaiian Electric and Vector to the VIA community. In addition, we were pleased to share that the Westly Group led an investment round in VIA.

Our hats are off to you, 2019. Let’s do this 2020!

GDAC™ Ability to Increase ROI for Utilities Featured in T&D World

/ /by

The article published by T&D World “Global Data Asset Collaborative to Increase ROI for Utilities” discusses changes to the energy landscape and how “many utilities recognize that the challenge of maintaining grid reliability is now greater than any single company is able to solve on its own.”

VIA’s Global Data Asset Collaborative™ (GDAC™) was established in early 2019 to allow multiple companies to securely pool data for more accurate analytics. The benefits of GDAC™ are featured in the article:

Both utilities and regulators benefit from GDAC™. For utilities, what VIA has found is that by protecting the data of each company, the data issues become easier and the focus of analytics efforts returns to the analysis (not restrictions to sharing the data). The impact on members who take this collaborative approach is that they end up with greatly improved analytics. For example, members get benchmarks of their equipment condition and maintenance routines in a more real-time and customized manner. They also get the benefit of learning from issues that others have had rather than just issues that they have seen — this leads to earlier warnings about equipment. And finally, as an economic impact, GDAC™ members have been seeing fewer corrective maintenance callouts, better planning for spares and inventory, and faster and simpler preparation for rate cases.

For the full article, visit the T&D World website.

 

Understanding How EV Charging Behavior Affects Distribution Networks

/ /by

The International Energy Agency projects that 30% of all vehicles will be electric vehicles (EV) by 2030. This transition, at the intersection of electric power and mobility, combined with increased generation from renewable resources has the potential to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the years ahead. To make this happen, utilities who operate the distribution network need to understand how this new demand for electricity will affect smart grid assets. Our primary job at VIA is to help utilities navigate these shifts by understanding their data and fostering collaboration through our Global Data Asset Collaborative™ (GDAC™) program. As an example, VIA recently kicked off our first GDAC™ by focusing on transformers. Through this GDAC™, we are beginning to see that transformers are stressed by the switch to EVs and our focus will be on helping utilities find ways to keep these assets healthy over the coming years.

There are at least two things that make charging an EV different than, say, running a central AC unit. First, the power that needs to be delivered to an EV is around 20kW, which is four or five times the power required for a typical central AC unit, which ranges from 3-5kW. A “short-range” charge to power the EV so that its owner can commute could require around 40kWh, thus a “slow-charge” for a “short-range” car requires about two hours of charging. Powering large fleets of EVs will clearly require extending the capacity of current electricity distribution networks. 

The second issue that makes charging an EV different is timing. The timing of EV charging events changes the daily load profile of the home, workplace, and in urban centers equipped with networks of charging stations. Transformers are generally able to run past their rated capacity so long as they are given ample time to cool overnight. That is changing as commuters return home after work to charge their vehicles, never allowing transformers that time to cool down, which can cause them to malfunction and in extreme cases, explode. EV charging events, because they demand so much power so quickly from the grid, can lead to shifts in voltages along the distribution network. This leads to wear and tear on tap changers and other voltage regulation mechanisms. 

Utility asset managers need to understand which transformers in their fleet are most at risk as EV penetration increases. A recent study by researchers at Ohio State University illustrates what needs to be done to understand the effects EVs have on transformers and voltage regulators (“An Integrated Algorithm for Evaluating Plug-in Electric Vehicle’s Impact of the State of Power Grid Assets”). The authors have studied a representative sample of urban, suburban, and rural areas and tried to answer the question “What would happen to the distribution grid if each home had an EV?” To understand both the total load and the rapid charging behavior, the authors used actual distribution grid topology provided by American Electric Power (AEP) and simulated the behavior of the system as EV charging events are inserted into today’s “baseline” load demand. The authors find that suburban areas are expected to see the greatest stress, as it is assumed that, in urban areas, additional power will be provisioned by specific “fast-charging” stations while the suburban dwellers load will stress the transformers that serve their primary residences. In rural areas, the lower population density typically means that the transformers are not as heavily loaded as in a suburban area. Some authors predict long-term changes in mobility patterns that will increase the number of rideshare services (i.e., Uber). Rideshare cars are typically required to drive all day and would require longer charge times. This corresponds to the most aggressive scenario studied by the authors, in which case they expect insulator degradation to occur after just one year. The results illustrate the socio-technical complexities of planning the future smart grid and the need for detailed studies on how people are expected to use their vehicles.

Author’s Note

As a highly-trained problem solver with deep scientific and computing expertise, I’m always hungry for tough problems to solve. There’s no doubt that integrating EVs into the smart grid is a tough problem. More importantly, it is a high-impact socio-technical problem that we as a society need to solve to transition to a greener future. Working together with the world’s largest utilities, VIA is in a position to help solve these problems, a privilege I am grateful for every day I go to work. At VIA, we have a company value, “Love in=Love out” which means that if you love what you are doing, you will do great work. I expect we will do great work in this area, and help our customers navigate the challenges of the EV revolution.

Value of AI for GDAC™ Utility Members Mentioned in Utility Dive

/ /by

VIA’s Colin Gounden was interviewed, among a number of analytics and utilities experts, for the Utility Dive article “In the ‘cat and mouse game’ of utility cyberattacks, AI and machine learning show promise, limits.” 

The article talks about ways AI and machine learning can help protect utilities and its customers from cyber attacks, while also using data to improve service to customers. Colin talks about how GDAC™ utility members are seeing value in AI:

“This is a whole new game for utilities,” Colin Gounden, CEO of data specialist VIA agreed. “They are increasingly interested in how AI algorithms and deep learning can automate the protection of customer information, the optimization and balancing of the grid, and the finding of efficiencies in the details of customer usage,” he told Utility Dive. “But AI requires access, particularly to data.”

Both [AI and ML] require an enormous amount of data, but it can be protected the same way email is scanned for spam by an AI algorithm “because it is too big a dataset for a person,” Gounden said.

For more quotes from Colin and the full article, visit the Utility Dive website.

 

Kate Ravanis Invited to Speak at GTM Blockchain in Energy Forum 2019

/ /by

VIA’s Chief Operating Officer, Kate Ravanis, was invited to speak at Greentech Media’s Blockchain in Energy Forum which took place on September 25, 2019 in New York City. Speakers at the GTM event shared use cases and success stories for blockchain in energy applications. Kate’s presentation covered the challenges facing the energy sector and how VIA’s GDAC™ program is currently helping utilities unlock the value of their data through privacy preserving collaboration. For more information on the event, visit GTM’s website.

 

Colin Gounden Participates in NECEC Navigate Webinar Series

/ /by

VIA was proud to be invited to participate in the Northeast Clean Energy Council (NECEC) Navigate Webinar Series, “Connecting the Dots Between Investors and Corporate Strategics.”

Colin Gounden sat on the panel along with Anna Jarman of Walmart, Ely Greenberg of Greenbacker Labs and moderators, Daniel Hullah of GE Ventures and Catarina Madeira of NECEC to discuss how innovative companies and established energy companies can learn from each other to improve energy efficiency.

For the webinar recording, check out NECEC’s YouTube page.

 

Disruptor Daily Interview’s Colin Gounden for Blockchain in Energy Series

/ /by

Colin Gounden sat down with Emilia Picco of Disruptor Daily, a publication that delivers the latest trends in blockchain, to talk about how VIA uses blockchain technology to help transform the energy sector.

At the start of the interview, Colin explained the reason VIA developed its blockchain application, TAC™, and its best use case:

“Some companies had too little data, some didn’t have clean data, some had a lot of data but not in any single location, and some were unable to share it due to security concerns. That’s when we had the idea to develop our blockchain application, Trusted Analytics Chain™ (TAC™)…

…In recent months, we’ve taken our efforts with TAC™ a step further and built the foundation for the Global Data Asset Collaborative™ (GDAC™). GDAC™ is the first privacy preserving, multi-company database for machine learning-ready transformer data, which has been created on top of our TAC™ software. As an analogy, GDAC™: Transformers is like an app on our “TAC™ app store”.

 

At the end of the interview, Colin talks about where he sees VIA in the next five years:

“We see VIA’s Trusted Analytics Chain™ as the go-to solution for both utilities / network operators and AI analysts alike. For utilities, they can become part of GDAC™ (which uses TAC™ as the underlying software) to have their data analyzed to get more accurate predictions about their equipment. For analysts, since it’s hard to access robust data like that of utilities, TAC™ will be the go-to software to solve high value, super interesting problems like those related to grid resiliency.”

For the full interview, check out Disruptor Daily’s website.

 

VIA Highlighted in “The Rise of Privacy Preserving AI”

/ /by

VIA was recently featured in a second Axios article titled “The Rise of Privacy Preserving AI”. The article discusses how new AI methods, such as federated learning, allow companies to benefit from collective data analytics, without having to reveal sensitive data.

In energy, predicting the next catastrophic power equipment failure requires data on previous problems. Because these events are rare, companies need to team up to share their data for collective analytics. VIA launched the Global Data Asset Collaborative (GDAC™): Transformers, where power companies are able to share data while still preserving privacy (through federated learning), with the goal of improving decision making related to operations, maintenance, and replacement of transformers.

To read the full article, visit Axios’ website.

The Westly Group Leads $7M Investment in VIA

/ /by

VIA, a leader in using artificial intelligence and blockchain to provide security and data analytic solutions for the energy and utility industry, announced that the Westly Group is leading a $7M seed investment in Via Science, Inc. (VIA). The funding will accelerate VIA’s customer acquisition and increase the number of network operators in its Global Data Asset Collaborative™ (GDAC™) program. GDAC™ is the power industry’s first predictive maintenance application combined with a multi-company, privacy protected, distributed database of equipment data.

“The Westly Group has met with over a hundred AI and blockchain companies, and we believe that VIA is the clear leader in the energy sector. VIA has a groundbreaking business model and a unique approach to collaborative analytics. This combination is exactly what the power industry is waiting for,” said Steve Westly, founder and managing partner of the Westly Group.

“Our team at VIA is very excited to have selected the Westly Group as partners. What impressed us most about the Westly Group is the breadth and depth of the relationships they have in the power sector. Their LP base of major global utilities is unparalleled. Membership in our GDAC™ program is already growing. With the support of the Westly Group, adoption by network operators will only increase,” said Colin Gounden, CEO of VIA.

About VIA

VIA helps energy companies across the globe realize the value of their data through AI and blockchain. The company works with the world’s largest utilities and government agencies on AI initiatives like predictive maintenance and contingency planning. VIA has developed a blockchain-based application, Trusted Analytics Chain™ (TAC™) to help energy companies reduce the burden of preparing and sharing their data. TAC™ (patents pending) is the bridge that securely connects power company data, distributed across many locations, to potential AI solutions. Headquartered in Somerville, Massachusetts, VIA has been featured in Wired and Inc. Magazine for its leadership in technology innovation. For more information, please visit www.solvewithvia.com.

About The Westly Group

The Westly Group has successfully raised three venture funds that invest in rapidly growing software, IoT and Big Data companies in the smart energy, mobility and building sectors.  The Westly Group has 12 of the world’s larger energy and auto companies as investors and has had four companies go public on NASDAQ including Tesla Motors.