Hammerhead AI Secures $10M To Turn Power Shortage Into Profit for AI Factories

AutoGrid Veterans Unveil Orchestrated Reinforcement Learning (RL) Control Agents to Maximize AI Tokens and Accelerate AI Deployment Without Waiting For The Grid

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Hammerhead AI is emerging from stealth with $10 million in seed funding to accelerate AI factory deployment by enabling operators to maximize their power utilization for AI workloads. The oversubscribed seed round was led by Buoyant Ventures, with participation from SE Ventures (the venture fund backed by data center equipment leader Schneider Electric), AINA Climate AI Ventures, MCJ Collective, WovenEarth Ventures, Bombellii Ventures, Clearvision Ventures, Stepchange, Acclimate Ventures, and individual contributions from prominent industry leaders such as Jack Cogen, a member of the Board of Directors at CoreWeave.

As AI factories scale to train and serve models, the sector is colliding with a hard limit: power. GPUs are sitting idle on racks because operators can't secure enough power. These factories — from colocation providers to hyperscalers — often operate well below their potential, typically running at only 30 to 50% utilization. This gap between peak and average usage leaves vast amounts of power capacity underused, stranding megawatts that could be used for token generation.

Hammerhead's Orchestrated RL Control Agents (ORCA) platform optimizes token processing capacity and power utilization, boosting output by up to 30%. By dynamically orchestrating workloads within existing power budgets, ORCA enables AI factory operators and colocation providers to deploy workloads faster, improve gross margins and capture revenue from power that currently sits idle. In constrained markets, each additional megawatt of stranded power unlocked using ORCA can be worth more than $20 to $50 million.

While many focus solely on power utilization efficiency, ORCA targets system-wide token productivity. Its software-first solution optimizes on-site generation and storage, non-IT equipment such as chillers and cooling distribution units, IT equipment including racks, servers and GPUs, and if required, AI workloads themselves. ORCA's autonomous, power-aware RL controllers adapt in real-time to complex, data-rich environments, maximizing token throughput while enforcing operator-defined power guardrails.

"Power is the critical bottleneck in today's AI landscape, but it doesn't have to limit what's possible," said Rahul Kar, CEO and Founder of Hammerhead AI. "With ORCA, we're enabling AI factory operators to achieve greater output from existing resources. Our investors recognize the potential for AI factories to transform their business models and move beyond grid infrastructure limits."

Hammerhead AI, part of SE Ventures' inaugural Accelerator Program and Nvidia's Inception Program, is led by a founding team with deep roots in power orchestration and implementing large, 24/7 mission-critical enterprise systems. CEO Rahul Kar and CTO Rajeev Singh previously built and scaled AutoGrid, where they helped pioneer power orchestration technologies and guided the company through its acquisition by Schneider Electric. They are joined by Sadia Raveendran, who managed AutoGrid's strategic partnership with Schneider Electric from early investment through acquisition. Together, the team brings hard-won experience in orchestrating 8,000 megawatts of energy assets across more than 20 countries. The leadership team also includes data center infrastructure and cloud operation veterans from Dell, HPE, Microsoft, Meta and Lambda Labs.

"Hammerhead enables AI infrastructure providers to unlock the full potential of their data centers," said Aaron Binkley, VP of Sustainability at Digital Realty. "Along with unlocking new revenue, Hammerhead helps solve one of the most pressing problems in the industry: powering AI workload sustainably. Their unique go-to-market strategy, OEM integrations and AI-driven orchestration sets them apart."

"The Hammerhead team represents the rare combination of deep technical expertise and proven scaling experience needed to redefine the economics of AI infrastructure," said Laura Katzman, Partner at Buoyant Ventures.

Amit Chaturvedy, Global Head and Managing Partner at SE Ventures, added, "We selected Hammerhead AI from over 400 applicants to join SE Ventures' first Accelerator Program because the team and solution immediately stood out. During our program, Hammerhead established strong alignment with Schneider Electric's data center businesses, and there is an opportunity to launch reference designs for future AI factories. Hammerhead is the only company positioned to boost data center operators' revenue through its unique power-aware token maximization approach. SE Ventures is proud to double down on our investment."

Hammerhead AI will use the funding to accelerate product development, scale global deployments, and deepen ties with leading infrastructure OEMs and AI factory operators. The company welcomes engagement from operators, OEMs, enterprises and AI cloud providers seeking to reshape AI factory economics. Learn more at hammerheadco.ai.

About Hammerhead AI
Hammerhead AI enables AI factory operators to maximize revenue using Reinforcement Learning (RL) agents for power-aware orchestration. Its flagship Orchestrated RL Control Agents (ORCA) platform maximizes token processing capacity by converting power constraints into revenue and shareholder value — without waiting for grid expansions. Founded by veterans in AI, power and cyber-secure orchestration of mission-critical assets, Hammerhead is backed by Buoyant Ventures, SE Ventures, AINA Climate AI Ventures, MCJ Collective, WovenEarth Ventures, Bombellii Ventures, Clearvision Ventures, Stepchange, Acclimate Ventures and prominent investors like Jack Cogen from CoreWeave's board. Learn more at hammerheadco.ai.

SOURCE Hammerhead AI