This long beach startup powers California’s industries using off-grid power

Many companies in California are struggling to obtain enough electricity to power their growing businesses. A startup in Long Beach just raised $26 million for what it says is a quick solution to this problem.

There are limits on how much energy each company can draw from the public power grid, so fast-growing industries can’t increase their consumption whenever they want. For uninterrupted supply, they sometimes have to wait for local facilities to build capacity, which can take years.

Critical Loop, an energy technology company based in an office overlooking the Long Beach airport, has already landed major customers and investors with its power management controller. It helps companies get more power when they need it and save money by seamlessly switching between the public grid, batteries, and on-site solar panels and generators.

Critical Loop Chief Executive Officer Bala Ramamurthy told The Times that the company is expanding in California because there is so much unmet energy need.

“The amount of energy-hungry industries in Los Angeles, especially in ports, logistics and manufacturing, is significant,” he said. “California is at the center of many of the grid challenges we are solving.”

The company announced Tuesday that it had raised $26 million, bringing its total funding to $49 million. The financing was led by Conifer Infrastructure Partners and Hannover.

The startup did not disclose its valuation. It plans to use the money to power facilities beyond California and expand into areas such as data centers and advanced robotics warehouses.

Instead of waiting years for utilities to upgrade the local substation and expand capacity, he says, companies can bring more power in days or weeks, much sooner than others.

Founded in 2023, the startup team increased from eight people to 35 people last year with the recruitment of SpaceX, Palantir and Tesla.

The team works out of a former hangar on Donald Douglas Drive in Long Beach. Workers at the expanded site are working on assembling and testing hardware, including container-sized batteries and their autonomous controllers.

The firm won a contract to manage peak load reduction at San Diego International Airport. During peak operating hours, when all conveyor belts and baggage sorting equipment are operating, the airport relies on Critical Loop’s controller to predict and manage battery needs on site.

Ramamurthy said it took four months to install this system.

The startup effectively helps industries reduce their electricity bills. Utilities charge large facilities based on peak power usage in a given month, not their average. For example, on a summer afternoon when every conveyor belt, boarding gate, and baggage sorter is in full swing, the airport’s electricity rate could be set for the entire month.

Critical Loop’s system switches to on-site batteries and solar power during those peak hours, then switches back to the grid when demand drops, saving the airport millions over the years.

The company recently installed an electric vehicle charging fleet for the company TerraWatt in just a few months. While the local utility company’s upgrade timeline is five years, Critical Loop’s installation allowed the utility to draw power from the grid for much of the year and use on-site batteries to cover limited hours during peak hours.

“What’s really interesting about battery-plus inverter-based systems is the ability to deliver power faster by increasing the available power in concert with the grid,” Ramamurthy said.

Taylor McNair, deputy director of Gridlab, a technical think tank, said it’s in a sweet spot right now as the massive buildout of data centers powering AI has created an insatiable demand for fast power solutions.

“Overall, there is increasing interest in on-site generation and off-grid deployments, especially for new data centers,” he said.

As some California billionaires and businesses leave the state, Critical Loop’s presence in Southern California has increased. He has a number of projects in Los Angeles County that need extra power but can’t rely solely on the grid.

It also chose to base itself in Long Beach to be close to high-quality hires. Southern California’s engineering talent is hard to find elsewhere, especially from companies like SpaceX, Tesla, and other advanced manufacturing and energy players.

“For a company building and deploying actual infrastructure, proximity to the problem set, partners and talent needed to solve the problem are more important than any disadvantages of working in California,” Ramamurthy said. “LA provides services in every field.”