Neara, the Sydney company that builds physics-based digital twin models of power grids and other critical infrastructure, announced on October 15, 2026 that it had acquired Zepben, a Canberra software company that models electricity networks for utilities. The price was not disclosed.
The Australian reported that Neara paid in cash and stock, according to a summary in the This Week in Australian Startups newsletter. Neither company disclosed the split or any other terms.
Zepben's technology will be built into Neara's core platform, and its team will join Neara. Zepben chief executive Adam White said the move would give his team more resources and support to solve bigger problems for customers. The announcement did not say whether Zepben's products will continue to be sold under their own name.
What Zepben built
Zepben specialises in electrical network modelling based on CIM, the Common Information Model, an industry standard for describing the equipment and connections in a power grid. Its software turns the source data held by utilities into ready-to-use CIM models that do not depend on any single vendor, and keeps them updated as networks are built, operated and planned.
The company builds operational technology for electricity distribution networks and for distributed energy resources, according to its CB Insights profile. CB Insights dates the company to 2014 and records about $250,000 in funding from the ACT Government, the territory government in Canberra. Zepben has not published a headcount or the names of its founders.
“Together, we're bringing electrical and physical modelling into one digital twin grounded in physics.”
Why Neara is buying
Neara's software creates physics-based digital twins of utility networks. Its existing platform covers physical and mechanical risk assessment along with analysis of financial risk trade-offs. Zepben adds electrical modelling to that.
Neara said combining the two would let utilities trace each decision back to both the physical and the electrical calculations behind it, which matters as regulators scrutinise grid spending more closely. The company listed several new functions it expects once Zepben is integrated: forecasting where demand growth, rooftop solar and new connections such as data centres will strain the network; managing planned outages and notifying affected customers; producing public capacity maps that speed up connection requests from data centres and renewable projects; and managing network models.
Karamvir Singh, Neara's chief strategy officer, said the acquisition would bring physical, electrical and risk modelling together and address what he called a critical gap in the US market. He said it would also help Neara work with leading companies in electrical modelling and extend its existing presence in the United States.
Neara also said that adding electrical functions would open the way to new customers and to joint projects with partners, including companies that sell electrical simulation software. Singh argued that some insights only appear when the physical, electrical and risk layers of a network are analysed together.
Neara's rise
Neara became a unicorn this year. Dealroom reported that it reached a $1.1 billion valuation after a Series D round in February 2026 and has raised about $115 million in total. Its customers include utilities in California and Ireland, according to Dealroom.
White described the purchase as two Australian companies coming together. He said Zepben's technology already deals with many of the problems Neara's customers face, so the two fit naturally.
A busy market for grid software
The functions Neara listed reflect the pressures on distribution grids: demand growth, more distributed energy resources and long queues of new connections, including large loads such as data centres. Neara said that collecting and connecting data remains one of the main bottlenecks for utilities worldwide, and that demand for tools combining physical and electrical analysis is growing.
In Australia, the deal also touches a specific regulatory issue. Neara said the planned-outage tools are meant to reduce the risk of breaching the National Energy Customer Framework by coordinating planned works and identifying the customers affected.
