National Grid Partners, the venture investment arm of National Grid (NYSE: NGG), has made a strategic investment in Terragrit, an AI software platform designed to simulate operational decisions for energy and utilities companies, according to a press release.

The investment will be used to accelerate product development and support commercial growth, with energy and utilities as a primary focus. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Terragrit's platform allows users to build virtual models of their operations, test proposed changes, and assess the effects on capacity, cost, resilience, and sequencing before implementing decisions in the field. The company says the platform does not require specialized engineering training, making it accessible to a broader range of staff within an organization.

Arun Chetty, VP of Corporate Venture Capital at National Grid Partners, said in the statement: "Utilities are managing increasingly complex systems while facing growing pressure to make critical infrastructure decisions faster. Terragrit's AI-driven approach has the potential to unlock tremendous value for companies like ours."

Sam Nagar, founder and CEO of Terragrit, noted the scale at which National Grid operates. "National Grid operates infrastructure that serves more than 80 million people across the U.K. and the U.S. At that scale, decisions can't afford to be wrong."

Beyond capital, the partnership gives Terragrit access to the NextGrid Alliance, a network of senior innovation executives from more than 170 utility companies worldwide, which National Grid Partners convenes.

Terragrit says its platform can be applied across multiple industries, including manufacturing, supply chain, transportation, and healthcare, in addition to energy.