Buzz Solutions Raises $5 Million

<div class&equals;"row">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"col-sm-10 col-sm-offset-1">&NewLine;<p><span class&equals;"legendSpanClass"><span class&equals;"xn-location"><strong>PALO ALTO<&sol;strong> <&sol;span><&sol;span>&&num;8212&semi; Buzz Solutions&comma; an AI company that inspects and protects critical energy infrastructure&comma; has closed a <span class&equals;"xn-money">&dollar;5 million<&sol;span> round of growth funding&period; GoPoint Ventures led the round&comma; with additional participation from Blackhorn Ventures and MaC Venture Capital&period; The investment follows a period of significant acceleration in customer adoptions as utilities are demanding more efficient and accurate T&amp&semi;D infrastructure inspections and better substation security&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"row">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"col-sm-10 col-sm-offset-1">&NewLine;<p>The global unmanned aerial vehicle &lpar;UAV&rpar;&comma; or drone market&comma; is predicted to reach <span class&equals;"xn-money">&dollar;101&period;1 billion<&sol;span> by 2032&period; Within this market&comma; the commercial drone use cases continue to grow&comma; including for T&amp&semi;D asset inspection&period; However&comma; with increased drone use for visual inspections and image capture&comma; utilities must analyze and harvest actionable insights from thousands of images taken across hundreds of miles of infrastructure&period; Likewise&comma; utilities require better substation surveillance and equipment condition assessment solutions via fixed cameras to prevent substation attacks&comma; theft&comma; and damage&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"row">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"col-sm-10 col-sm-offset-1">&NewLine;<p>Buzz Solutions uses the power of AI to address these needs&period; The company has gained significant market traction with utilities that use its PowerAI platform for visual infrastructure inspections and predictive maintenance&period; The company enables field teams to identify anomalies and prioritize maintenance to reduce the likelihood of grid-sparked wildfires&comma; forced shutdowns and power outages&period; At substations&comma; utilities deploy PowerGUARD&comma; Buzz&&num;8217&semi;s AI solution for fixed camera systems providing 24&sol;7 surveillance&comma; equipment monitoring&comma; condition assessments&comma; and fire or smoke-related alerts &&num;8211&semi; all in real time&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;We started with a mission to provide utilities with the most efficient and accurate way to inspect and safeguard the world&&num;8217&semi;s power infrastructure&comma;&&num;8221&semi; said CEO <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;c212&period;net&sol;c&sol;link&sol;&quest;t&equals;0&amp&semi;l&equals;en&amp&semi;o&equals;4118973-1&amp&semi;h&equals;1404505014&amp&semi;u&equals;https&percnt;3A&percnt;2F&percnt;2Fwww&period;linkedin&period;com&percnt;2Fin&percnt;2Fkaitlyn-claire-albertoli&percnt;2F&amp&semi;a&equals;Kaitlyn&plus;Albertoli" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"nofollow noopener"><span class&equals;"xn-person">Kaitlyn Albertoli<&sol;span><&sol;a>&period; &&num;8220&semi;Over seven years&comma; we&&num;8217&semi;ve collaborated with key leaders across utility operations&comma; technology&comma; and asset management&comma; working to solve their most pressing grid modernization needs&period; These industry insights coupled with our deep AI expertise have underpinned our success and positioned Buzz as the market leader&period; This latest round of financing will fund our next growth phase and expansion into new use cases associated with inspecting and monitoring critical infrastructure&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The investment brings the total raised to <span class&equals;"xn-money">&dollar;10&period;7M<&sol;span> with a previous round of <span class&equals;"xn-money">&dollar;3&period;3M<&sol;span> from 2022 and two <span class&equals;"xn-money">&dollar;1&period;2M<&sol;span> convertible notes in 2020 and in early 2023&period; Buzz plans to deploy the capital to scale both PowerAI and PowerGUARD offerings across utilities in the U&period;S&period; and internationally&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;Utilities are increasingly deploying AI to help tackle challenges related to safety and environmental sustainability in a cost efficient way&period;&&num;8221&semi; said <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;c212&period;net&sol;c&sol;link&sol;&quest;t&equals;0&amp&semi;l&equals;en&amp&semi;o&equals;4118973-1&amp&semi;h&equals;842533528&amp&semi;u&equals;https&percnt;3A&percnt;2F&percnt;2Fwww&period;linkedin&period;com&percnt;2Fin&percnt;2Fdavid-zusman-6322a625&percnt;2F&amp&semi;a&equals;David&plus;Zusman" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"nofollow noopener"><span class&equals;"xn-person">David Zusman<&sol;span><&sol;a>&comma; Managing Partner at GoPoint Ventures&period; &&num;8220&semi;With the most accurate AI powered solutions on the market&comma; Buzz is quickly becoming the power industry&&num;8217&semi;s leading partner in infrastructure inspections and substation security&period; Buzz Solutions helps utilities conduct more efficient and accurate inspections&comma; reduce the risk of infrastructure failure&comma; and safeguard critical assets &&num;8211&semi; all while saving millions of dollars annually&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Buzz Solutions was founded in 2017 by entrepreneurs <span class&equals;"xn-person">Kaitlyn Albertoli<&sol;span> and Vikhyat Chaudhry&comma; two <span class&equals;"xn-org">Stanford<&sol;span> graduates that connected over a shared passion for environmental sustainability and technology innovation&period; Capitalizing on the large opportunity to help utility companies improve efficiencies and reduce risk&comma; Buzz has rapidly become a leader in AI-powered visual inspections for T&amp&semi;D and substation infrastructure&period; With years of real visual data training its AI&comma; Buzz&&num;8217&semi;s technology has been proven in the field by the industry&&num;8217&semi;s most demanding customers&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;