Franco-American startup Plume has secured €3.3 million in funding to accelerate product development, grow its team, and expand across Europe and the United States.
The round was led by AENU, with participation from Y Combinator, Kima Ventures, Raise Phiture, Better Angle, and Collab Fund.
AI-Driven Site Selection For Energy Infrastructure
Founded in 2024 by Edouard Labarthe (formerly at Palantir) and Marc Watine (a former Harvard researcher in geospatial AI), Plume is building a platform designed to optimise site selection for renewable energy projects.
The company aggregates more than 150 continuously updated geospatial datasets and combines them with AI agents capable of processing large volumes of unstructured regulatory and planning documents. This enables faster execution of tasks such as:
- Project prospecting
- Permit analysis
- Grid connection planning
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Tackling Fragmented Data In Renewable Development
Developing renewable energy infrastructure—across solar, wind, and battery storage—requires navigating highly fragmented data. This includes zoning rules, grid capacity, environmental constraints, land data, and local administrative records.
In markets like France, developers often need to manage close to 100 different data layers, much of which is still analysed manually. This process can take months or even years, leading to costly delays or abandoned projects.
Plume addresses this challenge by transforming fragmented datasets into a unified, AI-powered system that enables faster and more informed decision-making.
From Manual Workflows To AI-Powered Insights
Plume’s platform centralises both structured geospatial data and unstructured regulatory information into a single interface. Its AI agents interpret this data in natural language, allowing project teams to generate site analyses without requiring deep technical expertise.
The platform incorporates data sources such as protected natural areas, grid infrastructure, flood risk zones, building permits, and municipal decisions. By automating analysis, Plume significantly reduces the time and complexity involved in evaluating potential sites.
According to the company, clients have achieved:
- Up to 20x faster site analysis
- 3x higher accuracy in decision-making
This leads to improved capital efficiency and reduced risk, particularly by identifying constraints earlier in the development process.
Expansion Across Europe And The US
Plume is already active in France, Spain, Romania, and the Czech Republic, with plans to expand into Italy and the United States in 2026.
The new funding will support team growth—doubling headcount from six to twelve employees—as well as further product development. Upcoming features include:
- Stakeholder mapping tools
- AI-driven competitive intelligence
- Automated permit application generation
The company is currently hiring across AI engineering, geospatial analysis, and energy expertise.
Edouard Labarthe commented:
“Renewable energy development is essentially a reasoning challenge hidden within maps and documents. Our AI agents combine structured geospatial data with unstructured regulatory information to deliver clear, actionable insights—helping developers move faster and focus on projects most likely to reach construction.”
Robert Stoecker added:
“Plume is addressing one of the biggest bottlenecks in the energy transition: the slow, manual processes behind site selection and permitting. By turning fragmented data into an intelligent system, they enable developers to move dramatically faster and more efficiently.”
