Somerville, MA – March 29, 2018 – VIA a leader in solving energy industry problems using artificial intelligence and blockchain, today revealed its newly refreshed brand. At the core of the refresh, VIA is updating “Via Science” to “VIA” and using “Solve with VIA” as the anchor to its brand. In addition, the company is releasing a new logo, a fully redesigned website, and an expanded social media presence to better reflect the company’s mission: solve its client’s biggest challenges.

“Since VIA was founded in 2016, we’ve made it our mission to change the way energy companies think about predictive maintenance, contingency planning, and other asset management and operational issues. In that time, both our team and technologies have evolved to better serve this mission, but our brand for the most part, remained the same,” said VIA’s Director of Marketing, Jackie Finn. She continued “Over the past six months, we held several company-wide brainstorming sessions and consulted with our most trusted partners to identify our core strengths and define exactly who we are as a company. These refinements are reflected in the refreshed brand we’re launching today.”

The idea that clients “Solve with VIA” was an ever-present theme over the past six months and ultimately inspired VIA’s newly designed logo. The new design visually represents the journey VIA takes with its clients from identifying a problem to finding a solution. In addition to the new logo, “Solve with VIA” inspired the full redesign of VIA’s website and the company’s recently launched Instagram account.

#solvewithVIA is also the official hashtag for VIA’s brand. Follow along on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter for all company announcements.

About VIA
VIA helps energy companies across the globe realize the value of their data through AI and blockchain. Since 2016, the company has worked 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 (patent 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.

Last week, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) unanimously rejected the Department of Energy’s (DOE) proposed rule, which would have “provided cost recovery for power plants that keep 90 days of fuel onsite,” like nuclear and coal plants. FERC’s decision instead prioritizes long-term grid resilience for the bulk power system.

In October, FERC requested comments from energy stakeholders to help inform this decision. VIA submitted comments that aligned with the Commission’s decision to prioritize long-term grid resilience, and recommended the application of software solutions (like AI) to support this goal. Below is an excerpt from these comments:

The DOE Secretary outlines several concerns that he has with respect to fuel shortages and appears to suggest that nuclear and coal resources should be fully developed to assure Americans that there will be adequate fuel for system reliance. However, even before monies are spent to develop additional domestic energy resources, it is imperative that assessments be done to determine how prepared the national grid operators are to deal with significant impacts to the grid infrastructure.

[…] given the increasing number and severity of weather events in recent years impacting the United States, including but not limited to several extreme hurricanes and the 2014 Polar Vortex, concomitant with the Nation’s aging infrastructure, there is a need for accurate and immediate assessments of grid operations.

Thus, before implementing the DOE’s proposed rule, Via Science first recommends that FERC continue to work with the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (“NERC”) and other stakeholders to establish a framework for defining and measuring resilience.

To that end, Via Science uses causal analytics to quickly evaluate grid infrastructure and help operators prioritize the types of resources to deploy and the location for such deployment as needed to mitigate the inherent dangers of weather or other catastrophic events on the ability of ISOs/RTOs to ensure resilient and reliable electric service.

View VIA’s complete comments here.

A leading electric industry news source, Electric Light and Power, featured Via Science in a recent article; “PJM picks Via Science to help mitigate fuel supply risks during extreme weather events.”

The article talks about the work Via Science will be doing with PJM Interconnection (PJM) to help mitigate risks to fuel supply for electricity generation during extreme weather events. At the end of the article, it mentions that “After a live evaluation phase, it is anticipated that this initiative can move to full deployment using Via Science’s new blockchain application, allowing PJM to analyze transmission-specific data without the risks inherent in transferring data.”

Somerville, MA – October 19, 2017 – Via Science, Inc. today announced that they have been accepted into Elemental Excelerator’s 2018 cohort. As part of the program’s Demonstration Track, Via Science will receive up to $1M to further develop its new blockchain and distributed learning technology, alongside implementation partners.

“We’re thrilled that Elemental Excelerator has accepted us into their program. With their support, we will work with three new transmission and distribution partners on the development of our application,” said Colin Gounden, CEO of Via Science. “One of the biggest challenges when working with energy companies on AI initiatives is gaining access to sensitive data. Our blockchain technology will address these concerns by keeping data on premise and completely anonymous.”

“This was our most competitive application season to date. 450 companies took the first step to apply and only 12 were selected,” says Jill Sims, COO and Head of Innovation Deployment at Elemental Excelerator. “We saw a major trend in the application of machine learning and artificial intelligence to energy software. Elemental Excelerator is excited to have Via Science join our portfolio. We are looking forward to the long-term impact of their blockchain technology.” With an acceptance rate of less than 3%, Elemental Excelerator works with their global network of investors and energy industry leaders to identify key technology gaps that remain in the sector.

Elemental Excelerator’s global partners include Enel, National Grid, SK Gas, and several others. For more information, see their recent press release as well as an article published in Pacific Business News.

About Via Science
Via Science creates software applications that identify and prioritize risks to critical infrastructure using a combination of artificial intelligence, blockchain technology, and causal analytics. Headquartered in Somerville, Massachusetts, Via Science has developed its risk assessment algorithms in conjunction with some of the world’s leading companies and government agencies in energy and security. The company has been featured in Wired Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and Forbes for its expertise in causal analytics software applications. For more information, please visit www.viascience.com.

About Elemental Excelerator
Elemental Excelerator helps startups change the world, one community at a time. Each year, we find 12-15 companies that best fit our mission and fund each company up to $1 million to improve systems that impact people’s lives: energy, water, agriculture, and transportation. To date, we have awarded over $22 million to 63 companies. What makes us unique? We co-fund, co-design, and co-develop projects and strategies that improve infrastructure and sustainably enhance communities. Our program is funded by a diverse coalition of utility partners, corporate partners, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Department of Energy, state government, and philanthropic organizations. We are a non-profit created in collaboration with Emerson Collective. More information can be found at elementalexcelerator.com.

Via Science CEO Colin Gounden was interviewed for the recent Electrical Contractor article “The Internet of Buildings: Connectivity, Data Collection and Monitoring”.

The article discusses the impact the Internet of Buildings could have on energy-conservation measures. Gounden suggests electrical contractors will need to become more computer and analytics savvy in the same way auto mechanics have in recent years: “With this increase in data from connected systems, we will start to see ‘autonomous buildings’ analogous to the autonomous vehicle revolution today with [artificial intelligence] software recommending to contractors equipment upgrades and suggestions of settings.”