Cofounded by Montauk Climate, this funding round included Rho Ignition, Coreline Ventures, and Avesta Fund
Clear Current, the first AI platform to deliver a comprehensive virtual energy manager for enterprise businesses, has secured over $4 million in an oversubscribed Seed Round. Rho Ignition led the round, with participation from Coreline Ventures and Avesta Fund. This investment will accelerate Clear Current’s market expansion across the U.S. and fuel development of its groundbreaking AI-driven energy management solutions at a pivotal moment in enterprise energy transformation. Based in Albuquerque, Clear Current intends to tap into New Mexico’s growing AI talent pool and help catalyze the region’s tech ecosystem by creating high-quality technology jobs in the state.
As businesses navigate escalating energy costs and increasingly complex market dynamics, Clear Current’s innovative energy enterprise resource planning (EERP) solutions are creating a new category of intelligent energy management. The company’s proprietary AI system functions as a 24/7 virtual energy manager, automating tasks that traditionally required months of manual analysis and specialized expertise.
Clear Current’s leadership combines exceptional energy sector experience with cutting-edge AI development. CEO John Reuter, who guided Bloom Energy from pre-revenue to IPO after serving as a nuclear submarine officer, leads the company alongside CTO Jake Masters, a serial entrepreneur and former Redaptive CTO, and COO Eric Hines, an Army veteran with crucial energy infrastructure experience, including rebuilding Puerto Rico’s grid. This team has created an intelligent system that fundamentally reimagines how enterprises manage their energy assets.
“Today’s energy landscape demands more than static dashboards and basic reporting,” said John Reuter, CEO. “Clear Current’s virtual energy manager provides cognitive capabilities that allow energy teams to act in minutes instead of months. This funding accelerates our mission to deploy intelligent agents that continuously optimize energy expenditures while providing unprecedented visibility across operations.”
Clear Current’s platform employs advanced machine learning to extract insights from thousands of complex energy documents, automatically identifying cost-saving opportunities that remain hidden in conventional systems. The AI manager orchestrates comprehensive energy intelligence across procurement, forecasting, consumption, and reporting—creating an adaptive system that continuously improves through operational experience.
The platform is already being piloted for major organizations, including Anheuser-Busch InBev (“AB InBev”), where it could serve as a virtual extension of their energy management team.
“Managing global energy operations requires processing immense amounts of data across disparate systems,” said Adam Spunberg at 100+ Accelerator, a corporate sustainability program sponsored by AB InBev, The Coca-Cola Company, Colgate-Palmolive, Danone, and Unilever. “Clear Current’s virtual energy manager could transform our approach, enabling our team to better monitor, manage, and streamline operations while staying ahead of market shifts and internal targets.”
Beyond traditional energy management tools, Clear Current’s system features autonomous procurement capabilities that continuously evaluate supplier options, intelligent rate analysis that identifies optimal tariff structures, and an interactive mapping system that organizes energy assets for strategic planning—all unified through an intuitive command center.
Dan Ruch, General Partner at Rho Ignition, said, “The Clear Current team is exceptionally well prepared to execute on the opportunity in front of them. They bring together rare and highly relevant experience—from scaling energy infrastructure and AI platforms to building enterprise-grade software systems. That combination gives them a unique advantage in addressing the complexity of today’s energy challenges. We’re confident in their ability to lead this market shift and build a category-defining company.”
Montauk Climate Co-Founder and COO Sharo Atmeh emphasizes the growing urgency: “With commercial and Industrial (C&I) power rates projected to double over the next decade, businesses need intelligent systems that can adapt to rapidly changing conditions. Clear Current’s virtual energy manager provides this critical capability, transforming how enterprises understand and optimize their energy expenditures.”
As one of Clear Current’s founding partners, Montauk Climate demonstrates its commitment to building and investing in companies focused on energy intelligence and optimization. This investment aligns with Montauk’s vision of advancing practical technology solutions for the evolving energy landscape. Clear Current represents the latest addition to Montauk’s strategic investment ecosystem, which includes innovative companies like Raad and Adaptive Insurance.
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