Investor Profile: National Grid Partners - Thesis, Cheque Size & How to Apply

If you build energy-transition technology and want a customer as well as an investor, National Grid Partners funding deserves a look. National Grid Partners is the corporate venture arm of National Grid plc, one of the world's largest investor-owned energy companies. It invests for strategic and financial impact, and its edge is deployment inside a working utility. Here is how to get funding from National Grid Partners.

Investment thesis: how to get funding from National Grid Partners

The thesis is practical. National Grid Partners backs technologies that make grids cleaner, smarter, safer and more affordable, and that can survive contact with regulated operations. Its four pillars are Future Electric Networks, Decarbonising Gas, Customer First and Efficiency Through Innovation.

Sectors and stages

National Grid Partners invests at seed, early and growth stages, and selectively joins later rounds where the strategic fit is exceptional. Its ground is energy and climate technology, especially grid software, AI for utilities, resilience and decarbonisation. It suits founders with a product a utility can trial, rather than a pure research concept with no deployment route.

Fund size and cheque size

A single headline fund size for National Grid Partners is not publicly disclosed, so do not quote one. In 2025 it committed $100 million to AI startups advancing the future of energy, and said it had invested more than $150 million in 18 AI startups since its founding in 2018, amounting to 37% of its portfolio. A separate milestone release reported more than $450 million deployed across 50 climate-tech investments. Individual cheque size is not publicly disclosed.

Notable portfolio

The portfolio shows the deployment thesis in action. Amperon provides AI-powered energy forecasting for utilities. AiDASH combines satellite data with AI to spot hazardous trees near power lines; National Grid reported outages down by 30% after deployment in Massachusetts. Exodigo maps what lies underground before grid expansion, Sensat builds digital twins for infrastructure, and Captura works on direct ocean capture of carbon dioxide.

Partners and team

Steve Smith is President of National Grid Partners and Chief Strategy and Regulation Officer at National Grid. Lisa Lambert founded the arm and served as its early president, and Pradeep Tagare is Head of Investments. The team works closely with National Grid business units, so show where a pilot would sit, who would own it inside the utility, and what success would look like within months.

Programmes, credits and perks

National Grid Partners does not run a published startup credits programme, and founders should not expect cloud credits or an accelerator package. Its equivalent perk is strategic access. More than 80% of its portfolio companies are strategically engaged with National Grid business units, and it convenes the NextGrid Alliance, a network of senior executives from more than 100 utility companies worldwide.

How to apply for funding

Approach National Grid Partners through the contact route on its official site, ngpartners.com, where pitches can be submitted to the team. Lead with the utility use case, not the technology alone: name the grid problem, the pilot you propose, the data you need and the measurable outcome. If you already work with a utility, say so. Do not invent a named contact email; use the firm's published route and a short, clear pitch.