Baltimore-based Sunairio, which runs a weather intelligence platform to simulate energy asset risks and grid variability, has closed an “oversubscribed” $6.4 million funding round.
The round was led by Chicago-based Buoyant Ventures, with investors including Baltimore-based Constellation Technology Ventures, a unit of Constellation Energy Group, and MassMutual Ventures‘ Climate Tech Fund. New York-based Rosecliff Ventures and existing Sunairio investors also participated. So far, Sunairio has raised $8.8 million from investors.
Sunairio, founded by energy trading veteran Rob Cirincione, leverages high-resolution climate data to offer a probabilistic climate model that helps renewable energy developers, energy traders and utilities address demand and supply volatility in power grids. Constellation Energy, for example, uses Sunairio’s platform to analyze its growing customer offsite renewables portfolio.
Industry Veteran at Helm
“We’re looking forward to offering Sunairio insights for every wind farm, solar farm, demand center, utility grid, and power market in North America, which will pave the way for higher investor returns and greater reliability,” said Cirincione, who holds degrees from Princeton and MIT in mechanical and aerospace engineering, and technology policy, respectively. Cirincione held senior positions at Constellation Energy and Boston Energy Trading & Marketing, most recently as managing director of Energy Trading at BETM, before founding Sunairio.
With forecasts ranging from 15 days to 15 years, Sunairio assesses a range of risks confronting renewable energy production and demand, including so-called “tail risks” from extreme weather events not presaged by historic datasets. Its software platform not only incorporates regional weather patterns but also uses advanced statistics and generative AI to deliver “site-specific, asset-level climate simulations” to support commercial decision-making. Sunairio won a grant from the National Science Foundation to research use of generative AI for climate simulation.
“While nuclear energy is a clean, reliable source of 24/7 carbon-free power, other generation sources in our portfolio are affected by weather variability,” said Jorge Acevedo, senior vice president for Commercialization and Development at Constellation. “Customers are also interested in renewable energy solutions generated by weather-dependent resources like wind and solar farms, which makes investing in a platform that can better value those risks attractive to us.”
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‘Firsthand Knowledge’
MassMutual Ventures’ managing partner Timothy Krysiek said his firm backs founders with domain expertise and commercial acumen to tackle major climate challenges — including grid planning and investment.
“Rob and his team are creating new tools to solve the problems he experienced firsthand during his long career as an energy trader,” said Krysiek. “The founding team has leveraged their experiences in energy and risk management to build a customer base across the energy value chain, including traders, project developers, asset owners, and utility planners.”
Sunairio, which operates in four U.S. power market regions and select utility footprints, plans to use the new funds to expand its market coverage and expand its team. It is also running a grid planning pilot with Xcel Energy.
