Myst AI Raises $6 Million to Help Energy Companies Better Predict the Future

Myst AI, the leading artificial intelligence platform for time series forecasting in electricity, today announced it has raised $6 million in Series A financing led by Valo Ventures. Google’s AI-focused venture fund, Gradient Ventures, which led Myst AI’s seed round, also participated. The funding will be used to expand its popular Forecasting as a Service (FaaS) offering. 

Myst AI combines sophisticated artificial intelligence techniques with unprecedented volumes of highly localized time series data from a wide variety of vendors. Myst AI typically improves forecasting accuracy by 30–60 percent, resulting in millions of dollars of value for its customers. The platform that Myst AI is developing also allows companies to build and deploy their own state-of-the-art forecasting models. This is becoming increasingly strategic in the energy industry, Myst AI’s initial focus market, where participants are investing in building their own in-house data science teams.

“Fortum is playing a leading role in the clean energy transition,” said Arun Aggarwal, SVP and Head of Business Technology at Fortum, the largest electricity retailer in the Nordic countries. “Partners like Myst AI are critical to help us leverage powerful artificial intelligence tools that can accelerate this transition. Myst AI’s forecasts enable us to shift to more low-carbon energy sources while driving business value.”

Energy companies deal with a world that is increasingly difficult to predict. COVID-19 and erratic weather patterns lead to wild shifts in electricity usage, while increasing adoption of solar and wind power dramatically influences system-wide electricity production and market prices. Having a clear view of the future is therefore essential for energy companies to mitigate risk and maximize profitability. Myst AI was founded to help companies thrive in this dynamic world by providing highly accurate time series forecasts. 

“Many of humanity’s biggest problems such as climate change can be solved, in part, through better forecasting,” said Pieter Verhoeven, co-founder and CEO at Myst AI. “By empowering the next generation of energy companies, we are helping accelerate the transition to a high-renewables future. We can, for example, prevent situations where unexpected shortages in electricity lead to massive price spikes and inefficient, highly polluting energy sources being used to fill in the gaps.”

Myst AI helps electricity companies with near-term forecasts for use cases that include electricity demand, renewable production, and market prices. By adjusting positions in power markets based on Myst AI’s forecasts, load serving entities such as utilities and retail energy providers are saving up to one percent in energy procurement costs, while renewable generators are seeing profit increase by more than five percent without increasing risk. Myst AI works with leading energy companies in North America and Europe, including Fortum, Enel Green Power, and East Bay Community Energy. 

"As California faces more frequent heat waves and Public Safety Power Shutoffs, reducing our exposure to spikes in electricity prices while minimizing the carbon intensity of electricity is critical,” said Howard Chang, COO at EBCE. “Myst AI is helping us increase the accuracy of our forecasts and lower our energy costs. In addition, their platform might be a key component in helping us manage our large-scale and distributed renewable assets and battery systems.”

The Myst AI team brings a unique background from technology companies like Google and Nest, where working with billions of time series was often the norm, and clean energy companies like Rocky Mountain Institute. This work on the intersection of artificial intelligence and large scale software infrastructure is a foundational element of Myst AI. The Myst AI team is mission-driven and strives to have a positive societal and environmental impact through the forecasting use cases they work on. 

About Myst AI
Myst AI helps companies predict the near future to enable better operational decisions that lower waste, reduce risk, and increase profitability. In a world that is evolving ever faster in increasingly unexpected ways, having a clear view of the future is essential. Many of humanity’s biggest problems such as climate change and food waste can be solved, in part, through better forecasting. To tackle these challenges, Myst AI is building an artificial intelligence platform for time series forecasting that enables companies to create forecasts at unprecedented scale and accuracy. Myst AI serves a dozen leading global energy companies and is based in San Francisco, California. 

For more information, visit myst.ai or contact hello@myst.ai .

About Valo Ventures
Valo’s mission is “investing in a brighter future” by championing innovative digital technology companies that create economic value as well as long-term societal and environmental benefits. Based in Palo Alto, we are a passionate, experienced team focused on five global megatrends — climate change, empowered people, autonomy and mobility, urbanization and the circular economy. 

For more information, visit valoventures.org.

About Gradient Ventures
Gradient Ventures is Google’s AI-focused venture fund — investing in and connecting early-stage startups with Google’s resources, innovation, and technical leadership in artificial intelligence. The fund focuses on helping founders navigate the challenges in developing new technology products, allowing companies to take advantage of the latest techniques so that great ideas can come to life. Gradient was founded in 2017 and is based in Palo Alto, California. 

For more information, visit gradient.com.

Contact Information

James Christopherson

PR Manager

Myst AI

Contact via E-mail