Laki Power secures €6m from NATO Innovation Fund for grid monitoring tech

Funding to scale grid resilience

Icelandic grid monitoring startup Laki Power has raised €6 million in a Series A funding round led by the NATO Innovation Fund to scale up its real-time surveillance technology for high-voltage electricity lines.

The investment, which also saw participation from existing Icelandic institutional shareholder ReykVC, will be used to accelerate the development of the company's hardware and software, ramp up its global manufacturing pipelines, and expand its engineering and sales teams across Europe, North America, and Australia.

Solving the grid power problem

Founded in Reykjavík in 2015 by Óskar Valtýsson and Ósvaldur Knudsen, Laki Power addresses one of the most persistent headaches for utility companies: how to monitor thousands of kilometres of high-voltage transmission lines running through remote and often hostile terrain.

Traditionally, monitoring these vital transmission corridors has been limited by the difficulty of powering the sensors themselves. Laki Power’s hardware solves this by harvesting energy directly from the electromagnetic fields of the high-voltage power lines they sit on. This continuous, self-sustaining energy supply runs an integrated suite of sensors, meaning operators do not need to rely on solar panels or external batteries that can fail in harsh winter conditions.

Each line-mounted device acts as an independent monitoring station. The system combines high-definition optical cameras, localized weather stations, and line-state sensors with onboard edge computing and high-bandwidth satellite communication links.

Edge AI and drone surveillance

By running artificial intelligence processors directly on the devices, Laki Power’s system can analyze visual and environmental data locally. This on-device processing allows grid operators to instantly measure dynamic line capacities, detect ice accumulation on cables, and spot wildfire hazards in real-time before they cause catastrophic blackouts.

The technology also supports autonomous drone-docking charging stations along critical transmission corridors. By providing a reliable power source in remote areas, these docks allow security and maintenance drones to patrol and recharge without human intervention, helping to secure the perimeters of vital energy networks.

The involvement of the NATO Innovation Fund highlights the growing geopolitical and environmental focus on the physical security of critical infrastructure. As extreme weather events become more frequent and physical threats to power grids rise, securing transmission lines has become a national security priority for both governments and utility operators. Laki Power’s ability to operate independently of external power sources makes it a particularly robust option for safeguarding remote energy corridors.