GridFree AI, an infrastructure startup backed by Montauk Climate, has raised $5 million in seed funding. The funding round was led by Giant Ventures, with participation from Amplo.

The company aims to streamline and accelerate data center deployment using its Power Foundry platform, which integrates power generation, battery storage, and cooling into a modular, grid-independent solution.

The company was founded by Patrick Yantz, former head of global Edge operations at Microsoft, and Ralph Alexander, former BP executive and Talen Energy CEO.

The company said that it is targeting a growing market need for rapidly deployable, energy-efficient data centers as demand from AI and cloud workloads surges.

“Our team unites the strengths of critical industries striving to address AI growth challenges to provide the comprehensive solutions our customers need,” said Yantz. “Our Power Foundry brings proven power and cooling industrialization and scale to the data center industry with unparalleled efficiency while maintaining familiar reliability and resiliency.”

Giant Ventures’ founding partner Tommy Stadlen said: US energy demand is surging for the first time in two decades. We urgently need energy-efficient data centers that can roll out radically faster if the West is to win in the AI era. That’s why we’ve backed this uniquely experienced founding team.”

Through converting natural gas into electricity and cooling on-site, GridFree AI claims it can cut capital and operational expenses by one-third and increase available power for IT loads by 50 percent.

The solution will focus on locations with unreliable or no grid access, including sites with abundant natural gas and access to carbon storage infrastructure. It's also built to support emerging power sources, including small modular nuclear reactors.

Stadlen said: "US energy demand is surging for the first time in two decades. We urgently need energy-efficient data centers that can roll out radically faster if the West is to win in the AI era. That’s why we’ve backed this uniquely experienced founding team.”

According to the company, it is currently in discussions with various hyperscale companies about potential partnerships. The seed funding will support early deployments and technological development to support the commercial-scale rollout of its solution.