UK startup Zendo raises £1.75M to decarbonize data centers with AI-driven ‘energy OS’ as AI demand soars

Data centers are facing a growing crisis. As AI workloads balloon and streaming services scale, the power demands of data centers are expected to more than double by 2030, reaching levels comparable to an entire country like Japan. The challenge? Only half of that energy demand is expected to be met by renewables, putting the industry’s carbon footprint under intense scrutiny.

Zendo Energy thinks it has an answer.

The UK-based startup has developed what it describes as an “Energy OS,” software that helps data centers manage their energy use more efficiently, cut costs, and shift away from fossil fuels. Today, the company announced it has raised £1.75 million in pre-seed funding to push that vision forward.

The round was led by Fly Ventures, known for backing Wayve in its early days, and included Octopus Ventures, Pact VC, and angels from the data center world.

Zendo Energy Lands £1.75M to Tackle AI’s Energy Crisis with Predictive Software for Data Centers

Zendo’s software tackles the messy intersection of unpredictable AI compute loads and unstable renewable energy supply. Data center operators using the platform can forecast demand, adjust to fluctuating energy prices, and reduce their reliance on carbon-heavy sources. The company claims its models can cut energy costs by up to 25%—a big deal for an industry where energy is the largest operating expense.

“There’s a growing disconnect between how data centers are structured and the energy challenges they’re walking into,” said Jade Batstone, CEO and co-founder of Zendo Energy. “These facilities are like WeWorks for servers. They’re procuring energy to power all of their tenants’ workloads, but they’re having to make their best guess at how these workloads will evolve over time.”

Batstone, a Silicon Valley native and former product lead at Square and SWIFT, co-founded the company in 2024 with Drew Barrett, who spent over a decade at Octopus Energy and led renewable procurement at the UK’s largest energy supplier. Together, they bring experience from both software and energy sectors—two worlds that don’t often mix, but desperately need to.

Barrett sees data centers as having more in common with energy suppliers than most people realize. “Their main cost is energy, and their revenues are largely tied to the power capacity they sell,” he said. “Since energy costs are often passed through to the end customer, being able to manage price volatility is critical for these data centers to protect their margins and maintain competitiveness in the market.”

AI isn’t just straining energy use; it’s also making it harder to plan. By 2030, AI could represent 70% of total capacity in data centers, which makes it difficult for operators, especially colocation facilities with many tenants, to plan power usage without having visibility into the actual workloads.

Zendo’s software provides predictive analytics that help operators track customer usage patterns and plan accordingly. It also helps integrate renewables and identify “stranded power”—unused energy capacity that can be redirected or monetized.

“Cost and sustainability should not be at odds in this industry,” said Barrett. “By supporting operators to get the most out of their existing infrastructure and reduce the risk, cost, and complexity of renewable energy adoption, we’re enabling data centers to be heroes rather than villains in the global clean energy transition.”

Kirsten Connell, Partner at Octopus Ventures, echoed that sentiment. “We’re delighted to be backing Zendo Energy in their mission to decarbonise data centres. This is a world-changing problem, one that will only become more pressing as AI adoption continues its exponential rise, and requires exceptional founders to solve it.”

Fly Ventures partner Gabriel Matuschka added, “Zendo is poised to drive a fundamental shift in how data centers evolve to meet future demand, addressing the industry’s key challenges of capacity constraints and decarbonisation head-on.”

With £1.75 million now in the bank, Zendo is ramping up development of its Energy OS and bringing on new hires to meet demand. Batstone said the company is focused on making its platform indispensable for data centers that want to keep pace with the surge in AI, without blowing past their energy budgets—or the planet’s carbon limits.

“We empower data centers to become smarter, more efficient, and ready for the future of computing demand,” she said.